Seduction
by obsequiouslover
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto is a terrible student in school who has a special talent--he can seduce just about any male. When his newest male teacher demands perfection from everyone, what is he to do? Put that talent to use, of course! NaruSasuNaru, AU.
1. Lesson 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Sorry. :shrug:

**Author's Note: **

**EDIT**

Sorry, guys--I forgot to mention this is a repost, hehe ;; It's in my profile, but the world doesn't read that, haha. I didn't steal it.

**/EDIT**

Hey! Glad you stumbled across my fic--did the summary intrigue you? I hope you'll review my story once you finish the first chapter and give me lots of concrit. It'd be much appreciated.

Now, I must admit that I am not Japanese. I didn't go to a Japanese school, so all of my knowledge on the schooling system there is from research I did online. If I make any mistakes, I'd love it if you would correct me. I simply had this set in Japan due to the fact Uchiha-sensei or Sasuke-sensei sounds so much better than Mr. Uchiha. XD It does, doesn't it? Please, if I make mistakes, tell me! It would be greatly appreciated. I won't throw any random Japanese in besides the honorifics (since they're actually important) since they're speaking Japanese anyways, so don't worry. Thanks!

**Setting**: Shibuya, Yoyogi Uehara, and a Japanese Private School located near Shibuya.

**Ages:** Students are 16-17. Sasuke is 24, and Kakashi&Co are 24-26.

Okay, onto the fanfic!

**Summary:** Uzumaki Naruto is a terrible student in school who has a special talent--he can seduce just about any male. When his newest male teacher demands perfection from everyone, what is he to do? Put that talent to use, of course! SasuNaru, AU.

* * *

**Seduction**

**Lesson One**

* * *

He was a hardass.

Sasuke Uchiha walked down the school hallways silently, making his way to his classroom. The beginning of yet another school year, and the beginning of yet another year of hell. Oh, well. At least he wouldn't be the only one to suffer.

As he neared his classroom, sounds of teenagers talking loudly and moving around became louder and louder until he realized it was coming from his classroom. Oh, _hell _no. There would be none of that kind of crap in his classroom. Like hell he'd allow it to ever get that loud. Though he had a feeling after his students met him, there would be nothing to worry about.

Stopping before his classroom door, he took a breath. Truthfully, he hated people, but...he had to do this. He didn't really have a choice.

The Uchiha violently flung the door open, striding in silently to his podium in the front of the room. His classroom was painted a ghostly white with a blue and white-checkered tile floor. A large, dark green chalkboard took up most of the front wall, and the navy blue and silver desks were aligned in perfect rows. Along the walls there were a number of shelves, as white as the wall, with workbooks, notebooks, stacks of paper; just about anything he would need for his class. The sounds of the room dissipated soon after his arrival, the intensity of his aura frightening just about everyone. Sasuke set his materials on the desk and then turned back to his students, glaring. He hated..._damn, I really needed to get it together_, Sasuke scolded himself. _I have a class to run._

"Listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once." As he stood stock-still in the front of his classroom, the coldness of Sasuke Uchiha's voice lowered the temperature of the room. Every student in the room sat motionless, the soft hum of the heater and the tick of the clock the only sounds other than Sasuke's voice. His eyes stared piercingly at everyone, making sure they knew by the end of the period he was not one to be messed with.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, and unfortunately, you are now in my class. This class will not be easy for you. It has nothing to do with the fact that everything is complex; it's simply that you're all stupid. All stupidity should be left outside of my classroom. In here, you do things right. There is no room for errors. Mistakes are not to be taken lightly. If you make mistakes, it's another sign of how stupid you are. I don't care if you're dumb as a rock outside of my classroom, but in here, you _will _be perfection." He smirked mentally in triumph as jaws began to fall and the eyes of his students' widened. The raven-haired teacher could already tell his class was relatively stupid.

"By the end of the week, I will hate something about every single one of you." As he gazed quickly over each of his students, he knew off the bat he would hate something about each and every one of them. Hell, he already hated something about their appearances, so there was no doubt in his mind he would hate something about their personalities, too. "If you think there's a chance that maybe I'll make an exception and like you, forget it. If it discourages you even more, you're all ugly."

Gasps and murmurs erupted from the students, everyone turning to complain to a friend--maybe even a stranger--about the words out of his mouth. The Uchiha didn't even have to speak to quiet the room; the sheer intensity of his glare silenced everything. He noticed an obnoxious pair of boys in the front right corner of the room--a blonde and a brunette. Damn. They would most likely be trouble.

It was no problem, though. He could intimidate anyone.

"In this classroom, you will speak only when spoken to. You will choose your words carefully when speaking to me, and you will never, under any circumstances, interrupt me. If you do, you had better correct yourself quickly or pray you don't run into me outside of the school, because I will kick your ass. I won't tolerate disrespect."

The shock flooded the room once again, though this time it was silently. Sasuke fought back yet another self-satisfied smirk and continued. "I will say whatever I want to say in this room, and I don't care if it hurts your feelings. I am not here to please you. I'm here to teach you, and you're here to learn."

A relatively small girl with brown hair raised her hand cautiously, and Sasuke groaned inwardly. Bet you ten dollars she had something stupid to say.

"What?"

"Um, Uchiha-sensei...M-my mother always told me th-that, um, no one can be perfect."

He stared her down until she was cowering in her seat, half-hidden under the desk. A haughty smirk threatened his features as he replied smoothly, "In my class, you'd better prove that statement wrong."

* * *

"Man, this school year is totally going to suck," Uzumaki Naruto groaned loudly to his friends. "We're stuck with the toughest teacher in the whole school for homeroom, fuck!"

He sighed in unison with his close friend, Inuzuka Kiba, slumping lower into his seat. Of all the crappy luck Naruto could have, he had to get the worst, most demanding teacher to be teaching him the hardest, most demanding subjects. Yes, he was with his closest friends, but fuck! Couldn't he have had that one lazy teacher for homeroom?

At least he had his talent.

"The guy has a well-known reputation for being a complete hardass. They say he works you half to death," Kiba said in a spooky voice, his eyes growing wide with every word and waving his arms around for emphasis. "And then once you're so tired you can't even think he throws a huge exam your way that you're bound to fail! And then he gets you in his evil clutches, and--"

"You know that's all ridiculous, right, Kiba?" Nara Shikamaru, a self-proclaimed lazy genius and one of Naruto's close friends, inquired. "I don't doubt that he's a hardass, but I don't think any of us will be stuck in 'evil clutches' anytime soon."

"I hope he's at least easy on the eyes, man." The blonde sighed heavily, crossing his arms over his chest, and Kiba shot him a dirty look while saying, "Yeah, well, I hope he's flat-out ugly! Like he got his face run over by a truck or something!" Nodding as if agreeing with himself once more, he began chewing on the edge of his pencil.

Another of Naruto's friends, the silent Aburame Shino, said simply to Kiba, "If his face was run over by a truck, he'd be dead. The truck would crush his skull."

"All the better, man. All the better."

"Why do you want him to be ugly, anyways?" Naruto asked, turning the subject back to the man's looks. Kiba pointed the pencil in his mouth at Naruto, exclaiming loudly, "Because then you'll end up talking about him nonstop! You did the same thing when you liked Kurenai-sensei, you stupid fuck!"

"So what? Fuck, she was hot! Besides, it's not like the whole crush thing lasted long."

"I don't care! Dammit, would you just pick a side, dumbfuck!"

"Both sides can be fuckable, so I like both, dumbass!"

"Do you two ever get sick of saying the word 'fuck'?" Shikamaru asked with a sigh, gazing out the window. The two teens in question glowered at him, but shut up all the same. They remained silent for a moment before the silence became too much for Kiba to bear, causing him to speak.

"Hey, where's Chouji?" Kiba asked Shikamaru, poking him with his pencil languidly. Shikamaru sighed again, as if answering the question were as much work as running across Japan. "He's at home with the flu, I think. But he's in our homeroom."

"Aw, poor guy," Naruto said, grinning toothily at Kiba. "He has to stay home sick and miss out on seeing our hot new homeroom teacher."

"He's going to be ugly," Kiba replied, narrowing his eyes at the blonde in retaliation. Naruto shook his head.

"Hot."

"Ugly."

"Hot."

"Ugly!"

"Hot!"

Shikamaru shook his head as Kiba began stabbing Naruto with his pencil and turned his gaze back to the window. Morons.

The classroom door was opened violently and a murderous aura entered the room, silencing everyone--even the two morons. Naruto and Kiba quickly returned to their presentable, upright positions in their seats as the man, probably in his early twenties, strode elegantly to his podium. He set his things on the podium and then turned back to the class, glowering.

The teacher was somewhat ashen with dark, inky eyes and matching hair. His facial expression was like stone and his eyes were void of all warm emotions--actually, more like _any_ emotion. He was walking perfection--not a strand of his hair was out of place, and his suit was pressed perfectly. He wore a dark blue suit with a white shirt underneath, the first button left open. His eyes were strong and demanding, and his presence was intimidating. Just by looking at him you could tell the rumors of him being a hardass were true.

Naruto's eyes brightened at the sight of his homeroom teacher, a smile crossing his face as he sat up straighter. Oh, hell, this guy was hotter than he could've ever imagined! Fuck his bad reputation, his looks more than made up for it.

"Listen carefully, because I'll only say this once."

The cold tone of the man's voice dimmed his smile considerably. The blonde had only half heard what the man had actually said. Hell, his voice could freeze hell over! What, was he trying to push everyone away or something? Aren't you supposed to _like _teenagers when you're a high school teacher, especially fresh out of college?

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, and unfortunately, you are now in my class. This class will not be easy for you. It has nothing to do with the fact that everything is complex; it's simply that you're all stupid. All stupidity should be left outside of my classroom. In here, you do things right. There is no room for errors. Mistakes are not to be taken lightly. If you make mistakes, it's another sign of how stupid you are. I don't care if you're dumb as a rock outside of my classroom, but in here, you will be perfection."

It was here that Naruto really began to worry, and taking one quick glance at Kiba, he could tell the brunette felt the same. Neither of them were, per se, stupid, they were just a little...dense. He'd always just barely scraped by in school, and now someone was demanding perfection from him? Oh, no. He would definitely need to put his talent to work this time.

"By the end of the week, I will hate something about every single one of you. If you think there's a chance that maybe I'll make an exception and like you, forget it. If it discourages you even more, you're all ugly."

"Looks like your favorite homeroom teacher has something stuck up his ass," Kiba whispered to him, leaning in and looking worried. Trying to calm himself down, Naruto put on a foxy grin and whispered back, "I'd sure as hell like to stick my own something up his ass, you know?"

"Gross! Gross!" Kiba moved back, clutching his head. "Dammit, Uzumaki, I don't want to know those things!"

"He's glaring at you, Kiba," Shikamaru said lazily, and Kiba immediately shut up.

A little put off by his words, Naruto chose to ignore the rest of the raven's speech and simply stare at him. Talk about being one sexy bastard. Only problem was, regardless of how hot the man was, he was not perfection in school. He was far from it.

Though...the blonde smiled wickedly to himself. He'd always been good at seducing people. His charm didn't work well on women (he'd reluctantly admitted it when it failed on both Haruno Sakura and Kurenai) but it worked pretty damn well on guys. He'd flirted his way to countless things--free passes to Odaiba Amusement Park, tons of free CDs and t-shits at multiple stores down in Shibuya 109, free tickets to concerts in Harajuku, and so much more. He'd never seduced a teacher before, but he doubted it was much different.

Besides, he was Uzumaki Naruto! He was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed god that no man would be able to resist. And so what if the sex god in the front of the room showed as much emotion as a stonewall? He could do this!

"Um, Uchiha-sensei..." An apprehensive girl with brown hair began timidly. "M-my mother always told me th-that, um, that no one can be-can be perfect."

Naruto watched as the Uchiha stared her down until she was cowering in her seat, half-hidden under the desk. He could've sworn he saw a flicker of a malevolent smile on his face as he replied smoothly, "In my class, you'd better prove that statement wrong."

"The hell?! He was serious?" Kiba blurted out, unable to hold it in. The panicking boy grabbed Naruto's shoulders and shook them, exclaiming, "We're dead, man! Dead!"

Kiba didn't have to tell him twice.

* * *

"Look, I don't care how hot you think he his, he's a fuckin' monster!" Kiba hissed, pointing his chopsticks at Naruto. It was their lunch period, and in fear of returning late the group had decided to eat inside of the classroom instead of on the roof. Kiba had been freaking out about the Uchiha from the second they'd been dismissed for lunch, and even Shino and Shikamaru felt the need to occasionally give their opinion. "Aren't you the least bit intimidated by what he said?"

"I doubt Naruto listened to half of what he said," Shino interjected as Naruto popped a piece of sushi into his mouth. "The look on his face clearly said he was spacing out half the time, and that's why he's not intimidated."

"How was I supposed to listen to what he said?" Naruto exclaimed with a smile on his face after chewing and swallowing his sushi. "He's practically sex on legs, man! Besides, though his voice is sexy, it's also pretty distant. It doesn't match him."

"It matches that hardass perfectly," Kiba argued, and Shikamaru nodded. "For once, I agree with him."

"Nah, you're all just blind," The blonde replied, waving his chopsticks at them dismissively. "If you look at his face really closely, you'll see that his voice doesn't match him at all."

"Of course _you_ looked at his face closely." Naruto nodded as Kiba looked smugly at him.

"Of course! I had to have his face memorized perfectly for when I jack off to the thought of him later. So I can imagine his face contorted with pleasure as he thru--"

"Gross! Gross! Shut it, dumbfuck, I'm eating!"

"Mm, and all I want to eat is a nice, big helping of the sexy Uchiha-sensei," Naruto said, letting out a deep moan while Kiba looked about ready to throw a chair at the blonde's head. Instead, he turned to the other two teenagers sitting with them and yelled, "Why aren't you guys grossed out?! Didn't you hear him? Did you hear what he said?!"

"We know when to block Naruto out," Shino replied.

"Damn, why wasn't I born with such useful ability?" Kiba whined, scowling at the grinning blonde. Naruto leaned back slightly in his chair, his bento completely empty, and sighed with contentment. Slowly closing his eyes, he spoke softly, much too lazy to speak any louder.

"We should go to Shibuya today."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the tranquil blonde, folding his arms in front of him on the desk as a makeshift pillow and resting his head on it. "Why?"

"Who needs a reason to go to Shibuya? It's better than sitting around all day."

"You know, Naruto, even I can tell there's a reason you want to go," Kiba replied. He leaned in close to Naruto and narrowed his eyes as if examining him. Naruto lazily opened one eye, glancing at Kiba, and then closed it again, basking in the sunlight pouring onto him from the windows. "Aw, hell. I must be getting real bad at lying if even Kiba can point it out."

"Shut it, goldilocks," Kiba grumbled, blushing slightly. "So I'm a little dense sometimes. Whatever."

"So why do you want to go?" Shino prodded. Somehow, this topic had sparked his interest.

"I feel like I'm going to see Sasuke."

"Whoa, addressing him on first name basis, Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed, his eyes growing wide with mock surprise. He slammed a hand down on his desk hard, causing his empty bento box to rise off the desk slightly. "Just because you've developed Uchiha-ESP doesn't mean you can act so familiar, goldilocks!"

Naruto grinned widely, opening his eyes and staring at Kiba with a devilish glint in his cobalt eyes. "I'll only call him Uchiha-sensei during kinky sex of student and teacher."

"There you go again!" Kiba stood up abruptly, moving a seat away from Naruto before sitting back down. "Damn, why couldn't that fucker be ugly?"

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

Naruto looked away from Kiba to see Ino, Sakura, and Hinata standing there staring at them with pleasant faces. Looking at Sakura now, Naruto kind of wondered why he'd been so hung up on the pink-haired girl. It wasn't that she was a bad person, it was just that she was too...innocently sweet for his liking. Nothing like Sasuke at all.

"We were just talking about going to Shibuya after school," Shikamaru replied as all three girls pulled up seats and sat down. Ino visibly perked up at the sound of Shibuya. "Shibuya? Really? What a coincidence! Sakura, Hinata, and I were also planning to go. We can all go together! It'll be fun!"

"You guys don't want to spend too much time around Naruto, trust me," Kiba began, his getting wide as he stared at the spoken boy. "All he can talk about is Uchiha-sensei. We're only going because Naruto thinks he's going to see the dick there."

"You like Uchiha-sensei, too, Naruto?" Sakura asked in a saccharine voice, smiling and tilting her head slightly. Naruto nodded vehemently, sighing happily.

"He's just sex on legs, man."

"He's _my_ sex on legs, Uzumaki!" Sakura yelled, grabbing Naruto by the collar of his shirt and shaking him like a rag doll. The rest of the group laughed as Naruto unsuccessfully tried to pry Sakura's claws off his collar.

After Sakura had practically killed Naruto, she released him and sat back in her seat primly while smiling. "Anyways, I think we should all go to Shibuya together. There aren't any problems with that, are there?"

Everyone shook his or her head.

--

"So, Sasu-chan, how was your homeroom?" Sasuke's co-worker and friend, Hatake Kakashi, asked as he slung an arm around Sasuke's shoulders. Having finished their lunches a while ago, Sasuke and Kakashi were simply sitting in the teacher's room waiting for the lunch period to end. Shooting him a dirty look, Sasuke shrugged Kakashi's arm off his shoulders and grumbled, "Don't ever call me that."

"I take it the class went bad?" Kakashi replied, pulling a chair up and sitting on it backwards. Sasuke spun his chair around to face Kakashi, crossing his arms over his chest. "Not really. Most of them fear me."

"Let me guess--" Kakashi put a hand up. "--A few of the other students either worship you or want to do you, right? And that's getting on your nerves?"

"Like I need any students acting up outside of school just so that they'll see me," Sasuke spat, his face darkening. "If I have to go and make formal apologies on behalf of any of those students, I swear, I'll fuck them up myself."

"Fuck them up the ass?"

The raven-haired man shot daggers at Kakashi with his eyes, his hands clenching. "Fuck no."

"Hey, Uchiha!" Shiranui Genma, another teacher at the school, slid his seat over by them. Pulling the toothpick out of his mouth and pointing it rudely at Sasuke, he said brashly, "You pick what side you're batting for yet?"

"Pick a side?" Kakashi repeated, raising an amused eyebrow at the brunette as his mismatched eyes sparkled with mischief. A bright smile spread across his face as he chirped, "Sasuke's obviously gay!"

Genma chuckled, his shoulders bouncing, and put the toothpick back into his mouth. Wisely choosing to simply ignore the two idiots, the Uchiha decided to take a sip of his chilled green tea. "Well, you know, I always thought he looked somewhat like a player."

"A player?" Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance as Kakashi repeated the word. "I'd have to disagree. If anything, he'd be a pimp, not a player."

"They're the same thing!"

"Nope, that's not true. One has their very own hoes, the other—"

Both Kakashi and Genma jumped up, yelling in shock, as Sasuke's tea splattered all over the place. He held the crushed can firmly in his hand, flames shooting from his eyes at the men as he snarled angrily, "I look like a what?"

"...Uh...you look like a gay sex god and I want to stick something up your ass?" Genma offered, raising his eyebrows as if he thought that was actually the right thing to say. Sasuke rose to his feet, his fists clenched tightly and his glare still focused on the cowering brunette.

"I'll stick my damn _foot _up your ass, Shiranui!"

"I wonder how that would feel?" He replied thoughtfully, crossing his arms over his chest and looking up in deliberation. The Uchiha smirked evilly, grabbing the front of Genma's dress shirt tightly.

"It won't feel very good."

"Damn. I should run?"

"Too late."

--

"Shiranui-sensei!" A girl with long black hair jumped out of her seat, calling out Genma's name affectionately when he returned to his classroom, shuffling in with a morose air swirling around him. He slowly looked at her, pain preventing him from moving any faster, and she yelped in terror, jumping.

"Shiranui-sensei! What happened to you! You look terrible!"

He forced out a smile. "Nothing happen," He replied, waving his hand dismissively and flinching as shots of pain went through his arm. "I just had an encounter with an angry Uchiha, that's all."

* * *

Needless to say, when Sasuke returned to his classroom, he was pissed.

Normally he didn't punch the shit out of people simply because they said something he didn't like. But lately, he was just feeling more and more pissed off when people associated him with other people. The only person he could allow to do that was Kakashi, simply because the silver-haired man could kick his ass if he tried to fight him. But, really.

Did he _look _like he liked people?

...Well, okay, maybe being a teacher gave the wrong impression. But it wasn't that he really wanted this job. It was just that being a teacher was valued highly in Japan, not to mention being a private school teacher. And if there was one thing Sasuke had to do, it was be highly valued in Japan. He had to be the best at everything. His class would, once again, have the highest exam scores out of anyone because he was the best teacher there was. So he wasn't exactly the nicest, but still. He would be the absolute best. He always was. He had to be.

"Um...Sensei?"

Sasuke's head snapped up and his eyes zoned on the source of the sound. It was one of the obnoxious boys, the blonde-haired one. His cerulean eyes sparkled, as if he was pleased for some reason, and he waved his arm around like an idiot. He had tan skin that bordered on a caramel color and unruly blonde hair that almost looked natural, causing Sasuke to briefly wonder if the boy was really born in Japan.

His eyelashes framed his vivid eyes with astonishing perfection; the fact his eyelashes were so elongated should have been awkward, but it was not. He had three thin lines on each cheek, looking somewhat like cuts from a razor, and his lips were a pale pink. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes at the teenage boy, a familiar feeling rising in his gut. He hated him. Oh, hell, how he _hated _this boy already.

"What?"

The blonde looked slightly taken aback by his cold tone, moving away slightly and the spark in his eyes slowly dying as he stood. His facial expression began to twist into one of revulsion before he caught himself and settled with replying in a slightly irritated tone, "Aren't you going to ask what our names are?"

"That was integrated into taking roll, wasn't it?"

"You didn't bother to look at any of us when we replied, though," He pointed out, his eyes regaining their spark. "Don't you want to know us better?"

The Uchiha stared at the blonde, all the while the blonde staring back with an innocent smile. This moron obviously knew he most certainly did _not _care to know them better. Repressing the urge to jump head first into an argument with him, Sasuke stared icily at the boy. "Fine. I'll say this slowly, because I know we have morons in here who won't understand otherwise."

A few girls giggled softly into their hands as Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets. "We will go down the rows and everyone will say their name so I can _get to know you better_." He looked pointedly at the blonde who scowled slightly, slowly taking his seat. "Starting with you. Right corner, front seat, next to the window. Go horizontally."

A lazy head slowly rose from a bundle of arms, his eyes half-lidded. In a barely audible voice he mumbled, "My name is Nara Shikamaru," before letting his head fall back down into his makeshift pillow.

"A lazy ass, huh, Nara-kun?" As the raven looked at the tired mess, he was immediately reminded of Kakashi. They'd probably be the best of friends. "Whatever. If you're smart, I don't care. Next!"

"The name's Inuzuka Kiba!" The coffee-haired friend of the blonde proudly exclaimed his name, pointing a thumb to his chest and grinning widely. "I'm happy to be--"

"Yeah, I'm going to hate you," Sasuke said curtly, interrupting the boy. Kiba gaped at him, the grin falling. "I know you don't like me already, and frankly, I could care less. Just don't pretend like you do. It's annoying. Next!"

Kiba slumped back into his seat, sighing heavily and muttering under his breath, "Man, he's such a dick."

Grinning widely, Naruto completely forgot he was the one next to Kiba and instead replied to the boy's remark. "You know," He whispered, "I sure wouldn't mind sucking his."

"Gods! Disgusting!" The brunette roughly pushed Naruto's shoulder as the other laughed, enjoying Kiba's discomfort. His laughter slowly died down as a shadow appeared on his desk. Naruto slowly trailed his eyes up to dark orbs like coal that were scowling down at him, obviously pissed.

"Hey, moron. Don't you know what horizontally means?"

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in anger and replied, "Yeah, it means going across! From left to right or vice versa, I'm not stupid!"

"And since we're going from your left to your right, that would mean the person to the right of Inuzuka-kun is next, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Who's to your right of Inuzuka-kun?"

Suddenly realizing not only was he next, but he was also not making a very good impression on the man he was going to seduce, Naruto stood up and smiled his most charming smile. Raising his right hand up to his forehead as if saluting, he said cheerily, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, Sensei!"

A smirk began to form on Sasuke's face as he stared at Naruto. The blonde's smile was overwhelmingly dazzling, and those damned eyes...god, how Sasuke wanted to carve them out with a spoon. They were so blue, like the sky on a hot day in June, the sparks in his eyes like the sun. It was disgusting! He hated this kid. He hated him. He was going to have fun this year, he could already tell. He would make Uzumaki-kun's life hell.

"You know, moron, I already hate you. Next!"

"Wait a minute!" Naruto exclaimed, moving into Sasuke's line of sight as the raven looked away from him. He slammed one hand on the desk and exclaimed, "I told you my name's Uzumaki Naruto! Why are you calling me a moron?!"

"I told you earlier," He replied, the smirk quickly falling off his face. "I don't care if I hurt your feelings, I'll say what I want. Now sit. Next!"

The blonde defiantly crossed his arms over his chest, scowling at Sasuke. "I'm not going to sit. Not until you take back calling me a moron."

The tension in the air increased tenfold as the two glared at each other silently. Minutes passed without either moving and the rest of the room remained still. A small shiver ran up Naruto's spine as the intensity of his teacher's glare increased, but he refused to back down. Sex on legs or not, no one got away with insulting Uzumaki Naruto!

"Where do you live, Uzumaki-kun?" The blonde blinked, his eyebrows furrowing in reflex. The sudden question had caught him off-guard, and even more how calm and collected the smooth voice asked. Slowly letting his guard down, he replied, "I live in Yoyogi Uehara..."

"Never mind. Your address should be in your file." The smirk returned as Sasuke scoffed, "Your ass is mine, Uzumaki-kun. Next."

Stunned, Naruto had no reply. His ass was Sasuke's? Did he mean...?

His trail of thought was quickly halted as a hand grabbed his arm and roughly pulled him back down into the metal seat. He turned and looked at Kiba and Shikamaru, who were both looking at him as if he'd gone crazy, but he still wasn't seeing the problem. Sasuke just told Naruto his ass was his! He basically said he wanted to fuck him! Whatever could be the problem with that?

_It's most definitely the eyes_, Naruto thought, a triumphant grin appearing as he leaned back in his chair leisurely. On the first day, without even much effort, it was hook, line, and sinker. Kiba looked about ready to explode.

"Are you fucking crazy?!" He hissed, his eyes wide. "How in the hell are you so calm?!"

"Oh, I get it," Shikamaru whispered, looking mildly amused. "You think Sasuke actually _wants _your ass?"

"Well, of course," Naruto replied, raising a questioning eyebrow at Shikamaru. He leaned farther back in the chair and propped his legs up on the desk, ignoring the Glare of Death he received from the Uchiha afterwards. "What else could he have meant? It's my eyes, man, I'm telling you. They're simply irresistible. Even hardass can't resist."

"Dumbass, he meant he's going to fuck you up!" The brunette hissed frantically, looking on the edge of a heart attack. Naruto still didn't understand the big deal, and it was starting to annoy him. "Yes, I know he's going to fuck me, and it's going to be great. Still not getting it."

"He's going to beat the crap out of you!"

"Who shits during sex?"

As Kiba let his head fall onto the desk with a loud thump in frustration, Shikamaru yawned and said slowly, "Naruto. He wants to fight you. And he's going to win."

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, dropping his feet from the desk and nearly standing up. For the first time since he'd begun talking, he noticed the deathly look Sasuke was giving him that immediately silenced him. He began to cower slightly in his seat, even though he knew he shouldn't show he was intimidated. The Uchiha smirked once again, and Naruto realized that as malicious as it was, it was beautiful. He loved that smirk.

"Oh, yes, Uzumaki-kun," He said once again. "Your ass is most definitely mine."

* * *

...And so, we've reached the end of chapter one! What do you all think? I actually kind of like it, though the beginning wasn't too easy. Naruto's situations are the most enjoyable to write. He and Kiba are the shiz, man. I love writing them.

Now, damn. Sasuke's history is going to a bitch to carve out since he's a teacher. But I think I've got it. And don't worry—Naruto is not going to stay afraid of Sasuke. Oh, quite the contrary. You'll see once they meet outside of school. Hehe…

I would love for you to tell me what you thought of it, whether you liked it or not. If you didn't like it, tell me why! Give me pointers! Even if you did! I appreciate it all, not necessarily the just the positive ones. And even flames, because you took the time out of your day to ramble to me about you being anti-SasukeNaruto/gay/anime/whatever! To think I was good enough for you to waste your time on...well, it moves me. :tear:

So, please review. I won't get annoying and repeat it over and over in giant caps, so this'll be the last. Thanks for reading! Keep an eye out for the next chapter!


	2. Lesson 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Sorry.**

**Author's Note:** Chapter two repost! This one I went over a little bit better than the first, so…haha, yeah. Sorry for the long wait; life has been quite jam-packed. And sorry guys, but I'm a procrastinator. I'll try to be faster with the third chapter, keyword try. :D

_Anything written like this is Sasuke speaking in English._

**Setting**: Shibuya, Yoyogi Uehara, and a Japanese Private School located near Shibuya. Currently April.

**Ages:** Students are 16-17. Sasuke is 24, and Kakashi & Co. are 26-28.

This is (obviously) an AU. That means that (occasionally, I will try very hard not to) the characters can get a little OOC. I'm trying not to let that happen, but please bear with me!

**Summary**: Uzumaki Naruto is a terrible student in school who has a special talent--he can seduce just about any male. When his newest male teacher demands perfect from everyone, what is he to do? Put that talent to use, of course! SasuNaruSasu, AU.

* * *

**Seduction**

**Lesson Two**

* * *

As Naruto was punched roughly in the back of the head once again, he groaned. His stupid friend had been doing the same thing sporadically for the last three hours, all because of a little extra homework. After their teacher had been fully annoyed by their whispers and random outbursts, he assigned that they translate the whole first chapter of their Japanese Literature book into English. Though Naruto had lived in America for four years, he wasn't exactly an expert in the language, and Kiba wasn't much better, either. He could ask his guardian, Umino Iruka, but the man would probably just scold him for getting in trouble on the first day and make him do it himself anyways.

"Dammit, Inuzuka, if you don't stop punching me!" He growled as he rubbed the back of his head. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata all ignored the two of them and continued reading the magazines and mangas they'd bought at the nearby convenience store—the girls had lost all interest in the matter after about the tenth time it occurred. Naruto closed the manga he'd been reading, coming to the conclusion he was not going to finish it while Kiba was around.

"It's your fault I got so much homework, dumbfuck!" Kiba exploded, throwing his arms in the air. "Do you _know_ how many pages long that chapter is?!"

"Seven," Naruto muttered, rolling his eyes. Inuzuka had asked him this same question _every single time_he punched him. Of course he knew how long it was! He would have to have the memory of a goldfish to not know! Besides, it wasn't like it was _completely_ his fault. Kiba just wouldn't shut up half the time and Shikamaru always woke up in time to say something that would cause Naruto to make an outburst because, well, it was always outburst-worthy.

"Do you know what my grade was in English last year?!" The boy looked on the verge of busting a blood vessel. Naruto shrugged and opened his manga again, flipping through the pages to try and find where he left off. The only way to get Kiba off his back was to ignore him by being preoccupied.

"Seriously, Inuzuka," Sakura injected as she flipped through a fashion magazine, "no one cares." Sighing heavily, she slapped the magazine closed and shoved it into her black leather school bag, running her fingers over the gold decorated clasp before snapping the bag closed. Ino raised her gaze from her magazine to at the sound of the pink-haired girl's sigh before returning to the magazine, finding nothing of interest. Hinata attempted to listen in without drawing attention to her, hiding her face behind her music magazine.

"What's with your Uchiha-ESP, Naruto?" Sakura complained, swinging her arms out as they began walking again. She was about to begin speaking again when Hinata stumbled slightly due to having her magazine covering her whole face. Ino pushed the magazine down and out of the timid girl's face without sparing a glance from her own magazine. Seeing everything was okay, Sakura continued. "We've been walking around for three hours and we haven't seen him! I'm really craving a strawberry milkshake right now!"

_He really isn't here_, Naruto thought sadly. After school the five of them (Shikamaru went to Chouji's to check up on his friend and Shino said he didn't want to go) headed straight for downtown Shibuya, still wearing their school uniforms. He'd been looking particularly hard for the pallid man through the crowds of people, but he hadn't seen him once. He'd had his hopes high when they first arrived downtown, even so much he walked right past the arcade without batting an eye, but he was starting to feel somewhat discouraged. He really needed to get home and start on his homework, since it would take forever now that he had that assignment from the Uchiha, but he just couldn't shake the feeling he would see the man.

The video for Hamasaki Ayumi's song _Startin' _played on one of the big screens on a building nearby, several people stopping to watch it. He scanned the faces quickly, though he doubted someone like Sasuke would stop to watch the video for a song like that. Sighing heavily, he put on a bright smile and laughed loudly, as if trying to reassure him it was everything would be okay. So what if he'd been wrong about seeing Sasuke in Shibuya? It was a silly hunch anyways, and besides, the man was coming to his house tonight, wasn't he? He'd see him them. And when he saw him, he'd make sure the fight was a completely different kind than the one the Uchiha had had in mind. Iruka wasn't going to be home tonight, and he knew he needed to get this whole 'seduce sensei' thing done quick.

"Are you giving up on our sensei that easily, Sakura-chan?" Naruto said challengingly, raising his eyebrows. He folded his arms across his chest and nodded, as if approving her action. Ino began rambling to Hinata how she was planning to dye her hair the chocolate brown Hamasaki Ayumi's was in the _Startin'_ video, the small girl nodding at the right times and pretending to be interested as she watched the video. "It's fine with me. I didn't think you'd be the kind to give up on something, especially not someone as sexy as Sasuke, but it's all right. I understand. After all, if I was you, I'd give up too since you're up against me! Sasuke would pick me over you any day!"

"Don't address him as if you know him, idiot!" Sakura replied, smacking the boy upside his head with her school bag. She smoothed out her uniform before continuing. "Besides, I'll never give up on Uchiha-sensei, though _you_ should. I don't even know why you're trying. He's so obviously straight."

Naruto laughed loudly, throwing his head back. "Straight? Sasuke? Yeah, right! He's about as straight as the perm you had last year when you decided you were a kogal!"

"Shut up! I was getting over a fever then, of course I had weird ideas that didn't match me!" Sakura's cheeks began to match her hair. "Besides, that has nothing to do with Uchiha-sensei! He's straight! Just admit it, Naruto! You have no chance!"

"Gay!"

"Straight!"

"Gay!"

"Here's a thought!" Ino said with mock excitement, the video that was previously holding her attention over. She glowered at the two of them and pushed her long blonde hair behind her ears. "Maybe he's bisexual, like Naruto, and goes for _both _genders?"

"I never thought of that..." Naruto murmured as Ino put her magazine into Sakura's school bag, despite the girl's protests. The blonde boy shrugged, interlacing his fingers and walking with them behind his head.

"You should have, since you're the bisexual one," Sakura pointed out, making a face at him. He made a face back. "Yeah, well, you're the smart one!"

"They both become absolute idiots when someone says Uchiha," Kiba said pitifully, shaking his head. "Anyone up for McDonalds?"

"Sounds g-good, Kiba-kun," Hinata agreed, nodding and smiling while blushing slightly.

"Aw, but I wanted ramen," Naruto complained loudly, making a face.

Sakura smiled. She really loved her friends.

* * *

As Sasuke was walking to the parking lot after the school day ended, he felt a vibration in his pocket. Scowling openly since there was no one around, he switched his bag from his right hand to his left and grabbed the phone out of his right pocket. His eyes flickered over the name, registering it, and he hesitated. It was his brother.

His relationship with his brother was a complicated thing. His brother held no malice towards Sasuke no matter what he did, and Sasuke...well, he did not _hate _his brother. He wasn't sure what exactly it was. It was just that whenever he'd see his brother walking towards him with such elegance, power, and a presence that demanded all attention, he'd feel..._it_. Suddenly an urge to go obtain all power, to be just like that, even better, it would overwhelm him. He'd clench his fists and force his face into an apathetic expression, but the feeling was so strong, threatening to take him over.

Sasuke knew he probably shouldn't dwell on it. He doubted he would like the answer he'd remain with.

Sliding the dark phone up slowly, trying to put off talking to his brother, he pressed the green phone and slowly raised the phone to his hear.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon, little brother." It never ceased to amaze Sasuke how different Itachi's voice could be. Whenever the elder Uchiha was addressing Sasuke, his voice sounded almost...warm. But to listen to him talk to others; the flat, condescending tone of voice was unfathomable. How someone could change his or her persona so suddenly was unknown to Sasuke.

"Good afternoon, aniki."

"How was the first day of class for you?"

"It went fine. I am entirely capable of handling anything given to me."

"Of course. You're an Uchiha; I would expect no less from you."

There it was again. That feeling that he just couldn't place, he _wouldn't_...such a demanding tone of voice that brought out the feeling in Sasuke every time it was used. He hated it. "Is there something you need, aniki?"

"Ah, yes, I almost had forgotten." Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes. Of course Itachi hadn't forgotten; the man was the epitome of perfection. He was simply trying to drag a conversation out of the younger Uchiha. "You will meet me at the Uchiha manor at seven tonight."

"Why is that?"

"You have nothing to do. Your lesson plans for the whole week have already been completed. Therefore, I am commanding your presence at the manor tonight at seven o' clock."

The raven cringed slightly as his brother explained his reasoning. If it weren't the fact his brother was so damn surreptitious, he would be suspicious of just how the older man knew his lesson plans were complete. And for Itachi to just _command _his presence? If had been anyone but his brother, he would have been insulted. He would have turned them down without a thought, giving them his trademark glare or simply hanging up.

But this was Itachi.

There was no saying no.

"I understand," Sasuke replied somewhat stiffly, repressing a sigh of irritation.

"Good."

Itachi hung up without so much of a good-bye, not that Sasuke had really expected one, and he closed his phone and shoved back into his pocket. He continued walking through the parking lot, distracted by his thoughts of his remaining family, only half-heartedly looking for his car.

As he spotted his black pride, the raven glanced off-handedly at his watch. It was already five-thirty. Where in the hell had time gone? _Well, that's what happens when you associate yourself with Kakashi,_ He thought somewhat bitterly as he pressed the button to unlock his car. Throwing his bag into the passenger seat, he quickly slid in the car, shutting the door behind him, and turned on the engine without putting on his seatbelt.

As he pulled out of the school grounds and onto a main road, Sasuke's mind drifted off to his class. He'd been teaching for only two years, but his class this year was nothing like his class last year. Last year he was entirely feared, somewhat disliked. He had a large number of fans at first, but they'd been shaken off within a week. It had taken longer to shake of his fans than to get the rest of the class to fear him—that had taken about ten minutes.

Already, on the first day, he had someone to deal with...it was a little annoying. He didn't usually choose to fight his students on the first day, but that blonde kid just didn't know how to shut up. He'd never been so annoyed by someone in his life. Him and that brunette, Inuzuka, just kept whispering and whispering and then randomly yelling something and disrupting his class. And the way that blonde had talked to him!

He was so mad he didn't even want to name that moron.

Well, it didn't matter. After meeting his brother, he'd go to that idiot's house and beat the shit out of him. The kid would be so scared he'd go mute when he entered Sasuke's classroom. There was one rule people should always follow:

Never upset an Uchiha.

* * *

Naruto stared out the window of the train that night at eleven, a smile on his face. He hadn't had that much fun with his friends in a while. He'd also gotten another free hoodie from the store Sabaku Gaara worked at. Him and Gaara were close friends, though he suspected Gaara had a bit of a thing for him. They somewhat understood each other.

After they went to McDonalds, they all went back to the arcade. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata mostly sat at a table and talked while Naruto kicked Kiba's butt in every game they played. He'd enjoyed it so much he completely forgot about his ridiculous homework assignment and the fact he was going to fail this year if he didn't seduce Sasuke. Then the five of them went to the store Gaara worked at, then the movies, Sakura paying for everyone while staring death at Naruto, and he'd gotten out of there and realized it was eleven and he needed to go home and start that homework.

The five of them separated at Shibuya Station, Hinata living in Shoto; Sakura, Ino, and Kiba in Tomigaya; and himself in Nishihara. Everyone had to ride a different train, so from the moment he waved good-bye and boarded the train he had been alone. The whole ten-minute train ride was spent with his thoughts as his only companion. Normally, he'd make small talk with anyone nearby, simply because he hated being left to his own thoughts. He hated being alone. But tonight the train was pretty empty--after all, it was a Monday, and most people were already home.

_Coming home at eleven on a school night...if Iruka were home, he'd kill me_, Naruto thought grimly. Thank goodness his guardian also worked nights. It made for little time together, but at times like this he was completely grateful. He was going to have to pull an all-nighter to get that homework done. He'd begged over and over for Sakura to help him out, but (of course) she said it was his fault for upsetting Uchiha-sensei and she hoped he really did kick his ass.

As the train slowed down, reaching its destination, Naruto gathered his things and sighed. It was going to be lonely tonight, just he and his homework. An automated female voice announced the arrival at the station and the white mechanical doors parted, allowing for exit. Sighing heavily once again, Naruto dragged his feet out of the train and, quite slowly, out of the station.

He continued to walk like this for the majority of his walk home, swinging the shopping bag out and humming the tune to an American song he'd heard at the cinema. He probably looked a whole lot more lively than he felt right now. Out of the corner of his eye the blonde noticed a suspicious figure in the shadows ahead, but he ignored it. He was much too tired to let his imagination run.

The night was relatively warm for April, Naruto realized suddenly, and the sky was unusually clear. It was a full moon tonight and the sky was littered with stars, showering everything in sight with faint light that caused an ethereal glow. The trees lining the sidewalk had never looked so beautiful before, with spots of leaves on the branches. He began to imagine how perfect the setting was to seduce his teacher. Hell, he wouldn't mind just _talking _to the man right now. Or maybe even a stranger. Even a damned seventy-three year old pedophile! He just...he really, really didn't want to be alone.

Then, it was as if time sped up. One moment the blonde was walking, mentally complaining he didn't want to be alone, and the next he was sitting on his ass with his shopping bag have been snatched right out of his hand.

It took a few moments for the thought to register, but as soon as it did, Naruto was on his feet again. "Hey! That's my _stuff_, jackass! Get back here!"

He bolted after the scrawny robber as fast as he could, but quickly stopped as the man suddenly fell to the ground, screaming out. He watched as someone, likely a male from their stature, walked out from the shadows and grabbed the man by his throat, slowly lifting him up. The robber's hands flew to the hand around his neck, making strangled screams, and the man took the bag out of his hands. Naruto jogged over, his eyebrows furrowed in worry as the choking man's feet came frighteningly close to leaving the ground. Sure, the man had stolen his stuff, but he was going to _kill _him from suffocation!

"Oi! You're going to suffocate the man, let him go!"

In an instant the bag snatcher was in a crumpled pile on the floor, coughing. The man with his bag slowly turned to look at Naruto, glaring at him, and the breath caught in Naruto's throat. That pale skin that glowed almost angelically under the moonlight, and those inky eyes with such a dangerous glint...it couldn't be possible. The man he'd been thinking about all day showed up in front of him, having stopped a purse (or bag) snatcher for him. Though it was kind of creepy he'd tried to suffocate the guy, but still.

"Sa-Sasuke?"

The Uchiha's eyes flashed momentarily with recognition, and Naruto took in the entire image before him. Sasuke was wearing a black t-shirt with a black belt and dark denim jeans. Unlike during the school day, where he had his hair all slicked back, Sasuke's hair was in razor-cut layers to his shoulders and he had relatively long bangs.

"Sasuke? What am I, your childhood friend?" Sasuke's tone was cold and condescending, alerting Naruto that calling him on first name basis didn't work outside of his fantasies.

"Oh, crap," He muttered under his breath, wincing. "I mean, sensei. I'm sorry, it slipped."

"Right." Sasuke's voice was undoubtedly cynical. He tossed the shopping bag at Naruto, a little harder than someone should, and began to walk away.

As Naruto caught the bag, dazed, he realized that now was the absolute perfect time to start his plan of seducing the man. A sly grin spread across his face as he yelled, "Oi, sensei! Aren't you going to offer to walk me home?"

The raven turned around slowly, glaring with one eyebrow peaked, and replied smoothly, "And why would I do that?"

"What do you mean, 'why'?" Naruto replied, ignoring the spark of anger that had just flared inside of him. "You're my teacher, it's late, and I could get mugged again! I just had someone try to rob me, dammit!"

Sasuke shrugged indifferently. "So? It's your fault for being out late, moron."

"You know, you have an obligation to your students as their teacher!"

"I don't care what happens to you outside of my classroom. Go get run over by a train and see if it bothers me."

"Bastard!" Naruto's hands flew to his mouth as soon as the word came out, his eyes dilating slightly. _There go my chances of ever seducing him,_ he thought grimly, which was why he was shocked when Sasuke's pink lips curved upward into an amused smirk.

_Amused? _The blonde felt his head start to hurt slightly at the rapid changes in his teacher's mood. _H-he's...amused by this? What's wrong with him? I just insulted him! He thinks it's funny! Or...he's laughing at me, isn't he? Che, forget seducing this fucker; he's pissing me off!_

"Did you just call me a bastard?"

Figuring he had nothing else to lose and having taken a disliking to the older man, Naruto refused to back down. "Yeah, so? You sure as hell act like one!"

Sasuke remained silent for a moment, staring thoughtfully at the blonde with the smirk still plastered on his face. Naruto stared back with his eyebrows furrowed angrily and his face set in a scowl, his hands in fists at his side. The sounds of crickets chirping began to feel louder as each moment droned on without a word from either of them.

_Why the hell is staring like that?! Yeah, so I called him a bastard! He obviously knows he deserved it! He called me a moron! That jerk!_ As anger bubbled up in Naruto, his thoughts began to run together and stop making sense. _He thinks he can just step all over the great UzumakiI don't care if he is myI wish I could punch that look off hisdamn, he's fucking hot asbut he's still a dickwouldn't mind suckinggod I hate thiswhy is he staring!_

"Hey, moron. Come here." The amused look had fell off the raven's face completely. His expression was once again like stone, and it somehow made Naruto even madder. He wanted to _beat _emotion into the man's face. Who in their right minds says such rude things to people they barely knew?! That guy _deserved _to be punched!

"What do you want, asshole?" Naruto replied rudely, walking while eyeing Sasuke warily. If the guy said he didn't care what his students did outside of the classroom and he _meant _it, he should have no problem with Naruto tomorrow in class if he insulted the man tonight. The guy was a completeass. "And if you don't stop calling me a mor—"

He never got to finish his sentence. The words were knocked out of Naruto's mouth before he could even form them by the sudden—not to mention powerful—punch the Uchiha threw at his face. He stumbled backwards, touching his left cheek gingerly, his blue eyes wide. He faintly recognized the taste of blood in his mouth, though his mind couldn't focus on that. He couldn't even begin to focus on punching back. He was still stuck on the thought process of _'Did that bastard--my __**teacher**__, dammit--just _punch _me?!'_

"You're surprised." Sasuke's voice was flat as he raised a thin dark eyebrow questioningly. Those bright eyes were so full of astonishment as they remained locked on him, and it somehow began to aggravate Sasuke. The blonde had had it coming. He'd warned him. There was no reason to Uzumaki-kun to continue staring at him like...like he'd done something wrong.

"You...bastard!" Naruto growled out in frustration, tackling the older man roughly. As they fell onto the concrete gracelessly, Naruto threw a punch at Sasuke's face, smirking victoriously as it connected solidly. _Teach him to mess with an Uzumaki!_ He thought cheerily.

But Sasuke snapped back from the impact in seconds, throwing yet another powerful blow at the blonde's face. His mind registered that this battle was not going to end until it was either broken up or one of them was unconscious before it snapped into complete battle mode. Without even thinking the blonde's body worked on its own, blocking and attacking, making sure he didn't get hit again.

Unfortunately, Sasuke worked the same exact way.

Exhaustion slightly started to seep into Naruto after some time, but he kept fighting. How long had they been fighting? Five minutes? Ten? Twenty? It could've been an hour. He couldn't even remember why he was fighting, but anger and pride kept him from backing out. He was so mad. This guy, he'd...he'd done something. Something to make Naruto really, really angry.

"Hey, there's a fight! Someone call the police!"

At the word 'police', both Sasuke and Naruto froze, staring each other dead in the face. It amazed Naruto just how apathetic Sasuke's face remained, even in such a situation. One of his pale hands was clutching the collar of Naruto's shirt and the other was raised high and balled up in a fist. Naruto's own tan hands had somehow made their way to the same exact position on Sasuke.

"Oi, sensei..."

"What?"

A sheepish grin spread across Naruto's face. "I once heard that there is no shame in a sensible retreat."

"Are you telling me we should run before the police get here?"

The blonde nodded. "I sure am. You know, if they catch you fighting with your student, it'll make you look bad in the eyes of all of Japa--"

The Uchiha was off of Naruto and running in a flash.

"H-hey!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping up. His body was sore from being hit and slammed into the concrete, but this pain was nothing. He'd hurt much worse before, and besides, he didn't need the cops on his case again!

"Wait for me!" He began running after the older man (who must've taken in track in school, Naruto thought bitterly) with everything in him. After awhile his chest began to feel as if it were contracting, as if he couldn't get enough air, but he kept running anyways.

"Dammit, Sasuke, slow the fuck down!"

* * *

After catching up the Uchiha and running straight for a few more minutes, Sasuke abruptly turned up a driveway. His running speed dwindled down to a light jog up to the front door, a bright light coming on as soon as he was within seven feet of the door. The blonde followed rather dazedly, out of breath and dying for a drink. He barely even registered the fact this was probably _the_ Uchiha Sasuke's house. Frankly, he didn't care. He was just thirsty and tired.

The raven pulled a set of keys out of the pocket of his dark jeans, quickly grabbing a silver key and shoving it into the keyhole. Naruto stopped next to the man, breathing heavily while hunched over. As calm and collected as Sasuke was acting, Naruto could tell the older man was also out of breath. His breathing was rather erratic, though he was trying hard to keep it even.

Sasuke opened the door, pulling his keys out of the hole, and Naruto proceeded to follow him. He was standing right in the doorway before the Uchiha turned and glared at him, asking in a brusque voice, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Coming in to fix up my injuries that _you_ gave me and get a drink," Naruto replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Sasuke stared at him coolly.

"No."

"What?!" The blonde cried out indignantly, scowling at his teacher. "What the hell kind of teacher are you? You injured me and dehydrated me, you bastard, and since you're my teacher you're going to help me get better!"

"Go to your own house. Obviously it's somewhere in this area of Nishihara." Sasuke turned around, dismissing the boy, and closed the door behind him.

Naruto slipped into the house silently behind Sasuke, just barely avoiding a door being slammed in his face. He took his shoes off in unison with Sasuke, setting his bag down stealthily, and began to creep silently behind him. He took about two steps before Sasuke whirled around and glared at him again, aggravated. "Didn't I just tell you to leave?"

"But, but!" Naruto paused, trying to come up with a plausible reason that would convince the raven. "I don't have a home!"

"Oh, yes, I had forgotten," Sasuke said sarcastically, giving the blonde an even look. "Your file _did _say you lived in a box."

"I do not!" The teenager snapped, becoming somewhat red with anger. If his file really said that, he would start snapping necks. So the school didn't like him because of everything that had happened in his first year, that was no reason to claim the blonde lived in a damn box! "I live in a blue house two blocks down with my guardian Umino Iru—" He ceased his tirade quickly, cursing himself. He'd fallen right into the Uchiha's trap.

"And here I thought you didn't have a home."

"Come on, you're my teacher! Let me patch myself and I'll leave, promise!" He gave the Uchiha his most pitiful eyes, ignoring the disgusted look that crossed his face almost immediately. "I won't leave until then."

Scowling deeply, the raven whirled around on his heel and walked away from the blonde majestically, as if he were royalty. His broad back was firm and his shoulders were squared, giving off a haughty, untouchable feel. Naruto took the man's retreat as an acceptance to his proposal, and so he began to follow him.

The whole main hallway, which was rather wide for a simple hallway, was white. The floor was a light caramel wood, the many doors on the walls the same way. He was slightly surprised to find that there was absolutely nothing on the walls. The bland walls stood plainly, looking as if someone had packed up all their belongings and were getting ready to go.

Glancing up, Naruto noticed a chandelier hanging in the center of the hallways, and his breath caught in his throat. It was gorgeous. The crystals dangled from the golden structure, set in complex swirls. The light reflected off of the precious jewels was one of sheer resplendence, looking as if made for sovereigns. _Then again,_ the blonde thought, _Sasuke doesn't seem like he's too far from that, anyways._

He snapped back to his senses as the raven turned into one of the rooms, tossing his keys onto what sounded like a side table. The blonde quickly followed, muttering bitterly about rude hosts under his breath. As soon as he entered the dark room he found the Uchiha sitting slouched back on a black leather couch, one arm slung lazily on the back and the other holding the remote and flipping through channels.

Naruto subconsciously registered that it was weird though somewhat fitting for the Uchiha to have a room where _everything_ in it was black. The floor, the walls, the coffee table, the chairs, the side tables, the rug, the large flat screen television, the damn remote, the lamp shade (he was relieved to find that at least the light bulb was white), everything.

Wow. His teacher was actually rather strange.

"Oi, sensei!"

Sasuke glanced at his student from the corner of his eyes, his face remaining impassive. "What, moron? The bathroom is right across the hall; hurry up and get out."

Golden eyebrows furrowed in annoyance as he crossed his arms over his chest, saying rather curtly, "Shouldn't you offer your precious guest something to drink? Tea? Water? Something? What kind of host are you?"

"As far as I'm concerned," The raven said easily, turning his attention back to channel surfing, "You are not a guest, and you sure as hell are not precious. As long as you are in my house _uninvited_--" Sasuke took a moment to look at the blonde pointedly, "--I will not play 'host'. If you're thirsty, go home."

"Che," Naruto mumbled, exiting the room begrudgingly. What a bastard.

The second Naruto entered the bathroom (which was much too large to be a bathroom, in his opinion), he got the sinking suspicion every room in this house contained large amounts of dark colors. The whole bathroom was navy blue save for specks of white here or there.

Yeesh. That hallway sure was misleading. This house was fucking _dark_.

Though, in all honesty, he was impressed. The Uchiha must have loads of money. Every little thing in that room looked expensive, even the damn toilet paper. For a brief moment he wished _his_ toilet paper looked expensive. It just looked like…well, toilet paper.

As Naruto's eyes locked onto the sink, his azure eyes brightened hundredfold. He rushed over, turning the cold water on rapidly, and stuck his mouth under the spicket. He relished the heavenly feeling of the cold water in his mouth and running down his throat, dribbling over the corners of his mouth and down his cheek.

After what felt like an eternity—a rather pleasant one—Naruto tore his mouth away from the water. He cupped his hands together and began splashing his face, dousing his bangs, and he moaned at the feel of the water on his face.

Realizing he was making a mess, the blonde shut off the water, shaking the water droplets off his hands. He grabbed one of the towels and buried his face in it, the clean smell of soap attacking his senses. Naruto crumpled it in his hands, rubbing his face, before comprehending the fact that he was wrinkling something that belonged to a stranger with a stick up his ass.

He threw the towel into the hamper. Sasuke seemed like the kind of person to notice _everything_, even wrinkles on a towel.

He glanced at himself in the mirror and was relieved to find that Sasuke hadn't actually connected as many blows as he'd originally suspected. His lip was busted open on the left corner, due to the first blow he'd received, and his right eye was looking slightly black and blue. He'd probably be fine by morning, seeing as he healed relatively fast, but he didn't feel like going home just yet.

"Hey, bastard!" Naruto called as he opened the mirror, searching for some hydrogen peroxide. "Shouldn't you clean yourself up to? I managed to rough you up quite a bit, too!"

His question was met with the sound of the TV. At first he was mildly interested as to what could actually interest such a deadpan person, but as he figured out he was being ignored, he began to feel ticked. "Hey, bastard?"

Silence.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto calmed himself and walked back into the TV room. Part of him was hoping that the Uchiha was asleep, to at least justify being disregarded, but (of course) he was not.

"Hey, bastard! I was calling you!"

"What?" The question sounded like more of a statement. The raven's voice was frosty and flat, his eyes stuck on the screen in front of him.

"I was asking if you needed cleaned up."

"Hmph." A smirk grew on Sasuke's face as he leisurely turned and looked at the blonde. "Why would I need 'cleaned up'? You hit like a girl." (1)

Naruto's left eye twitched in annoyance. Giving Sasuke a one-over, he smirked with satisfaction. "I think your lip and jaw say otherwise."

"They'll heal." Succinct replies seemed like the only thing this man could give. Dark eyes strayed back towards the television screen, once again ignoring the younger man in the room. A smart remark was on the tip of Naruto's tongue when the Uchiha suddenly pulled his phone out of his pocket, slid the cover up, and answered in a low voice. It was obvious he didn't want the blonde to hear the conversation, but unfortunately for the raven, Uzumaki Naruto had exceptional hearing.

"Hello? ...Oh, aniki."

Naruto's right eyebrow rose curiously at the change in Sasuke's voice. His voice had gone from impassive to somewhat submissive as soon as he'd said the word 'aniki'.

And Sasuke had a brother...hm. Well, whatever. He was probably just another Uchiha with something stuck up his ass.

"Now? I have company. A student of mine."

Naruto felt slightly irritated at the fact Sasuke had called him 'company'. Hah! First he was an uninvited guest, but when talking to _aniki_ he was company. His older brother must be pretty damn special. Somehow, it made Naruto feel like shit.

"...Is that so." The apathetic voice was back. All traits of emotion on the Uchiha's face vanished so quickly it almost made you doubt their being there. His face was firm as a wall, and currently he looked as if you would probably get more conversation out of a rock than him. "I just got home ten minutes ago, if even. I..." The raven tensed up slightly, almost unnoticeably, as if he were trying to hold something back. "...Yes. Yes, I understand. Fine."

Sasuke slid the phone down, hanging up, and then shot Naruto a nasty look. "Leave."

"But—"

"You have five minutes to get off of my property."

"But—"

"Uzumaki-kun." Sasuke's voice was cold and firm, a complete contrast to the way he'd been called a moron earlier. "Leave. Now."

Naruto childishly made a face at Sasuke before leaving the room grumbling. The background noise from the television ended abruptly and a soft sigh was heard. The blonde could almost see those pink lips in his mind, exhaling softly and entrancing him.

Damn sex god.

The young man crept back into the room silently, peeking his head around the corner and controlling his breathing so it remained quiet. The Uchiha was sprawled out on the couch with his head back against the wall and his arms extended on either sides of the back. His eyes were closed and his hair fell back, out of his face, and the soft white light of the room caused his pallid skin to glow.

"What," The relaxed man said, making Naruto jump slightly. Sasuke's uncanny ability to sense a person's presence in the room unnerved the blonde—but only slightly.

"I kicked your ass!" Naruto replied cheerfully before leaving with a grin on his face.

* * *

As Naruto strolled down Sasuke's driveway, in absolutely no hurry to get home, he noticed a car driving up the driveway. It was a glossy black sports car, a foreign import by the looks of it, and at that moment he knew that:

1) The Uchiha family was a bunch of rich assholes, and

2) This was 'aniki'.

The car turned off and the door opened somewhat slowly, and Naruto felt the need to stop. He couldn't quite see the elder Uchiha yet, but he knew the man was staring him down. He could feel the holes burning through him. What the hell was _wrong _with this family?! Why was everyone always so pissy?! Was life really that crappy for them?

It couldn't be, Naruto told himself. They're rich. They could have anything.

"Ah, you must be the student."

Though deeper and more powerful, the elder Uchiha's voice was exactly like Sasuke—cold, curt, and controlling. The blonde watched as the man stepped out of the car gracefully, moving as lithe as water. He closed the door behind him, locking it and shoving his keys into his pocket before approaching Naruto. He made no effort to look friendly; it was more of the opposite. His eyes glowed a bright red, screaming of death and yet remaining completely silent, and his skin was just as pale as the younger Uchiha's. His hair was dark like coal and tied in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He bowed slightly with his head, though his demeanor suggested he didn't think the younger man was even worth it.

"I am Uchiha Itachi. And you are?"

"U-Uzu...Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto forced his voice to sound a lot more carefree than he felt, his cerulean eyes sparkling. He smiled warmly at the man and bowed deeply, showing the respect _some_ people just couldn't seem to give.

"May I ask what you were doing at my brother's house at this hour?" Itachi's words were polite and seemed carefully chosen, but his face was like a statue. There was no emotion whatsoever and it unnerved the blonde. Damn! _Now_ he felt like going home.

"I was...I ran into him on my way home, see," He began, making gestures with his hands as he spoke his lie. Somehow, he got the feeling the elder Uchiha would not like to hear he'd been fighting with his teacher. "And he didn't like me today in class for some reason, and he gave me a huge homework assignment! And as I was walking home from the station, I saw him! I asked him to help me, but he decided to be a bastard and refuse. Then I followed him into his house and begged him, and he still wouldn't help me, so now I'm going home."

"I see..." Itachi turned away from the younger man abruptly, walking towards Sasuke's front door. Returning back to his train of thought of just why all the Uchihas had to be bastards, Naruto continued down the driveway scowling until Itachi called out to him. Even from a distance, he could see the seriousness of the man's next words in his eyes as he turned around to look at the man.

"You had better watch yourself, Uzumaki-kun."

With that simple yet confusing sentence the Uchiha entered the house and closed the door, leaving Naruto puzzled. What the hell had he done wrong now?

Fucking Uchihas.

* * *

(1) I am a girl. I know some girls are strong. I am not. So, I put this line. Hope I didn't offend anyone.

It's about time. I should've had this out earlier, I know, but I make no promises that next time I'll be faster. I'm ridiculously slow and life, lately, has been ridiculously busy.

I hope I left you all with many ideas swirling around in your mind just as to what is going to happen next for all you first-time readers! I'd love to hear your predictions. It's always really fun to read where people think your story is going.

As for everyone who has read it before…well, act like you're surprised as well. :D

This chapter is so serious, but I needed this chapter. Next chapter will be more humorous with more Sasuke-Naruto interaction. No fanservice, though. At least I don't think…ah, whatever.

Reviews help me grow. So help me grow, guys. HELP ME GROW. :D


	3. Lesson 3

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. This beloved series belongs to Kishimoto Masashi.

**Author's Note:** …honestly, no excuse. Sorry guys.

_Anything written like this is Sasuke speaking in English._

**Setting**: Shibuya, Yoyogi Uehara, and a Japanese Private School located near Shibuya. April.

**Ages:** Students are 16-17. Sasuke is 24, and Kakashi & Co. are 24-26.

This is (obviously) an AU. That means that (occasionally, I will try very hard not to) the characters can get a little OOC. I'm trying not to let that happen, but please bear with me!

**Summary:** Uzumaki Naruto is a terrible student in school who has a special talent--he can seduce just about any male. When his newest male teacher demands perfection from everyone, what is he to do? Put that talent to use, of course! AU.

* * *

**Seduction**

**Lesson Three**

* * *

The train was eerily quiet the next morning.

Now, a seven o' clock train ride on a Tuesday morning shouldn't be quiet. The number of high school girls clad in baggy socks and colorful hair barrettes is almost unfathomable. And apparently, when high school girls get together on a train they suddenly become morning people and talk animatedly, letting shrill giggles escape from their brightly painted lips every minute and pulling out their compact every four minutes. They also tend to share make-up tips with each other, though they always do it after their friend finishes putting on her make-up touch-ups on the train. There was also a certain group of kogal on the train that loved to poke their noses into other people's lives and give strangers tips on their appearance.

But no, it's not just them, either. The businessmen are, surprisingly, quite noisy. Most of them don't know just how loud they are. They don't realize just how loud their laptop keyboards actually are. The constant tip-tap of the keys gradually gets louder and louder until it starts competing with the high school girls. The flipping of the newspaper from section to section is just the same, and those ring tones—god, those ring tones are the most annoying sounds ever created. Every twenty seconds someone's phone goes off, sounding strident and electronic, making you wonder if they even knew what the 'vibrate' setting was. And if they did, why the hell didn't they use it?

And still, nope, there's more. There's that group of people that you don't even know who they are or what their purpose is that ride the train, too. And you know what they do? Listen to music with headphones on. Now, that wouldn't be so bad if the headphones actually _worked_ correctly. They play the music loud and it becomes as if they don't have on the headphones, because you can still hear every word of the song, anyways. It's not exactly enjoyable to listen to Tommy Heavenly6, Thrice, Kouda Kumi, and D'espairs Ray all at the same time.

This was Naruto's train every weekday morning. Every. Weekday. Morning.

It didn't actually bother the blonde as much as it probably should have. Why?

Because Naruto was part of the animated life of that train. He talked to everyone and everyone talked to him. Well, most of the high school girls made fun of him and called him stupid (even though he was at a private school and they were at a public), the businessmen looked down on him with their noses held high, and the indefinable people either rambled about the artist they were listening to or simply turned up their music. But still. It was obvious everyone was used to the outgoing blonde and felt awkward when he didn't smile that blinding smile and irritate them.

Take today, for example.

The deathly aura he was giving off was enough to shock everyone into silence. Cobalt eyes stared out the window with flickers of murderous intent, dark bags hanging under them and a hint of black and blue around his right eye. His left cheek was slightly discolored from the bruise forming there, slow and somewhat teasing, as if rubbing in his face what had happened. His lips were pressed together tightly and his body was tense as if strapped to a board. The white button-up shirt worn under his uniform blazer hung wrinkled and the color was ghost-like, only half tucked into his pants. The grey pants had red lining and were slightly too big for the boy, though instead of holding them properly in place with his usual bright red belt he left them be, occasionally showing the top of his orange boxers. His black schoolbag sat next to him on the seat, only one clasp in place, with the yellow corner of his Japanese Cultures book peeking out of the top. His blazer sat next to him, crumpled into a ball.

The very presence of Naruto was enough scare everyone way—in a completely non-Naruto way he looked as if he were craving someone's blood. The high school girls stood huddled together around one of the poles, eyeing the blonde warily with their hands trembling and gripping each other. They were much too frightened to even text each other, let alone talk as vociferously as they usually did.

Even the businessmen were silent. No phones rang, there was no tip-tap of keys on a laptop, there was no flipping of pages in the newspaper, there wasn't even the sound of them sipping their morning coffees. They all sat with a death grip on their things, trying to discreetly look at the person fueling their fear and failing miserably. In fact, normally all the businessmen took the seats in the morning, but due to everyone's fear of the blonde, he'd gotten a seat by himself that everyone was trying to desperately avoid standing near.

The screeching sound of the train stopping inside the station hit everyone's ears and the train sighed with relief, able to get out of Naruto's company. People scrambled for the doors, suddenly having everything to say and not being afraid to say it.

Sighing heavily, Naruto grabbed his jacket and bag and stood up, stretching. He yawned, stretching his jaw out, before relaxing his face into a tired look. Not only was he pissed, but he was also damn tired. He hadn't slept at all because once he'd gotten home (which was around midnight) he had started his homework assignment. And it took him a whole six hours.

Six.

Damned.

Hours.

Once he'd finished, he got excited at the thought of finally sleeping, but then Iruka burst into his room and told him he needed to get ready for school otherwise he'd be late and he wasn't going out of his way to drop Naruto off at school and didn't he know how bad of an impression it would make on his homeroom teacher to be late on the first day?

Psh. Make a bad impression on his homeroom teacher? That one had already been completed and crossed out of the To Do List.

So, he was tired. And angry. Those two didn't make a very good combination when it came to Naruto. When he was angry, he used big words that he only wished he knew when he was calm. When he was tired, he acted without thinking.

Then again, he also acted without thinking when awake.

It hadn't quite clicked with Naruto until he'd gotten home and opened his Japanese Cultures book just how much that Uchiha bastard hated him, and it completely pissed him off. That bastard had no right to hate him! Well...okay, he had no right to hate him before he called him a bastard! The man was obviously judging him on some preconceived notion, and he hated...wait. Preconceived notion?

Oh, was he was _mad_. Otherwise he wouldn't be using phrases like 'preconceived notion'.

Anyways.

He hadn't even done anything wrong! Sure, he didn't cower at the asshole's feet like the rest of his class, but that wasn't a crime, now was it? It wasn't his fault that a ridiculously delicious-looking older man with midnight eyes that could freeze hell over couldn't intimidate him! Then the bitch decided to go and get so mad he had to _fight _him over it. His teacher. Someone who should be mature, not fighting with people how much younger than him?

With a face like that, he couldn't be over twenty-five.

Still! The bastard punched him in the jaw! His lip was swollen, though only slightly, but that black and blue around his eye just wouldn't go away! Damn him!

And now he would have Kiba on his back all day, laughing and poking at Naruto because Sasuke had beaten him up. The obnoxious boy had said a few times yesterday that the Uchiha looked somewhat like a weak chick trying to be a guy (though Naruto had disagreed rather adamantly, the Uchiha did to have a masculine air to him!) and it would be a shame if Naruto got beaten up.

Well, he hadn't even got beat up anyways! It was a tie!

"Oi, Naruto! Morning!" Kiba clamped a heavy hand down onto Naruto's shoulder, grinning toothily at him. The blonde blinked slowly, his eyebrows twitching slightly at the impulse to furrow together. When had he walked outside of the station? His eyes trailed down to his feet, blinking at them. His black shoes with the white laces, standing on grey concrete marking the end of the station and the start of the world outside...when exactly had his feet started moving? How come he couldn't remember?

Ah, whatever.

"Hey, Kiba," Naruto replied, forcing out a smile. The brunette frowned and took a step back, releasing the blonde's shoulder. That wasn't Naruto's usual smile. Something must've happened for him to be in such a pissy mood.

"What's gotten your panties all in a bunch?"

"Hey, Naruto, did you get into another fight?" Naruto recognized that voice as Akimichi Chouji's, and his eyes zoned onto the healthy-looking boy who was happily eating some kind of western breakfast pastry. Next to him stood Shikamaru, whose hands were shoved into his pockets as he stood in a rather sloppy style. It amazed Naruto to no end how someone who always slept could manage to always look so tired.

"Hey, your eye is looking kind of black and blue," Kiba commented, nodding and grabbing Naruto's chin. He moved the boy's head up, down, and to the left before his hand was swatted away, the blonde scowling disapprovingly at him. He huffily slid his jacket on, swinging his school bag over his shoulder, and then said rather crankily, "Shouldn't we get going? Sensei will probably go crazy if we're late."

"So that's what this is about," Shikamaru said, giving Naruto a look that clearly said 'I would roll my eyes at you right now but it's simply too much work so this will have to suffice.' "So troublesome."

Suppressing a blush, Naruto began walking, hoping Shikamaru would realize he didn't want to talk about it. And, naturally, the rather intelligent boy did realize it.

He just ignored it.

"So you and Uchiha-sensei really did fight," He commented off-handedly, walking in stride with Naruto. Kiba rushed up immediately, his eyes bright with excitement and curiosity and a toothy grin plastered on his face.

"There's no way! Fuck, Naruto, you must've kicked ass!"

Hearing the comment immediately made Naruto perk up. Why had he been so upset, anyways? Who said he had to tell the truth? It wasn't like Uchiha was going to go around proclaiming the details of their fight; the information would quickly get into the wrong hands and he'd be in trouble. Besides, it wasn't like he'd gotten his ass kicked. He just hadn't won. It was a draw! Besides, he would've won yesterday, but he was tired from that long day in downtown Shibuya. Yeah.

"Me? Of course!" The blonde threw his head back in a hearty laugh, crossing his arms over his chest. Kiba began laughing with him at the mental image of the great Uchiha beaten down by his friend, the dark-haired man humbled and bowing at Naruto's feet.

Chouji exchanged a look with Shikamaru, both of them knowing Naruto was lying. He tended to get arrogant and talk much louder when he lied. Not that he was ever quiet before, but there was a certain difference between Naruto's loud lying voice and his loud voice.

This was his loud lying voice.

"He probably got his ass kicked," Chouji whispered to Shikamaru between bites of his pastry. The lazy boy sighed heavily, but nodded all the same. "Yeah, either that, or it was a draw. He's so troublesome."

But looking at the look on Naruto's face, the bright grin and glow he gave off at Kiba's compliments, neither of them felt compelled to tell him at that moment they knew he was lying. They would let him bask in the feeling a little longer.

After all, that's what friends do, right?

* * *

"Sasu-chan!"

Kakashi drawled out his friend's name lovingly as he entered the house, locking the door behind him. He smiled to himself, awaiting an angry Sasuke to pop into the hallway and stare death at him. His smile slowly faded into a frown as he took off his shoes, his eyes narrowing slightly. Usually it didn't take long for Sasuke to appear in the hallway, even when he was upstairs. He flowed down the steps and into the hallway without a sound, the perfection of his appearance radiating off of him in an angelic way.

Too bad looks are only skin deep. Sasuke sure could be a PMSing bitch sometimes.

"Sasu-chan?" The silver-haired man ventured farther into the house, beginning to feel slightly worried. Something had happened. Sasuke wasn't awake. Sasuke was always awake, and he was always on time. Every time Kakashi came here in the morning (usually to make and eat breakfast, Sasuke's food supply seemed never ending and he didn't want to buy groceries too often) Sasuke was on his way out, curtly reminding him he was going to be late if he attempted to eat and make breakfast now.

But there was no Sasuke, which meant if he weren't awake he would be late. That was simply too out-of-character for Sasuke unless something had happened.

What, though? What would shake the Uchiha out of his daily routine?

...Oh.

He went to the living room, suspecting that if Sasuke weren't in his room that was where he'd be. Kakashi walked quietly, though he wasn't exactly sure why, and immediately turned to the couch. The young man was stretched out on the couch, wearing no shirt and dark jeans. His alabaster complexion, which usually glowed with some kind of reassurance of his health, looked rather dull and sickly. His chest was littered with large, dark bruises that suggested he'd been in a fight, and there were spots on his chest caked in dried blood. His long, dark eyelashes fluttered against his skin, his left eye looking bruised as well, and his pale lips parted slightly. His toes curled up as his breathing sped up slightly, his fine eyebrows twitching. His hair splayed out around him, his bangs falling over his face, and his hands were held in loose fists near his face. Under his left eye was a small cut from which a trail of dried blood started, traveling down his face and neck. On the side of his neck there was another cut, though it didn't look as if it had bled very long, which relieved Kakashi. The raven had obviously fallen asleep without tending to his wounds, and the last thing he needed was Sasuke with a dangerously low level of blood. The older man's mismatched eyes focused on Sasuke's chest, watching intently for the rise and fall of breathing. It was rather shallow, but it was still there.

Thank god. At least he wasn't dead.

"Sasu-chan, wake up!" Kakashi sang this rather jubilantly, going to the nearest window and tugged the curtains apart to let the light pour in generously. He turned back towards Sasuke, who was wide-awake now. His inky eyes were wide and panicked, and his mouth fell open slightly as he registered the other man's presence. For a moment Kakashi could've sworn he'd seen a flicker of raw emotion in the Uchiha's eyes, the same way they'd been when Sasuke was a teenager.

But then they were flat again, apathetic and focused, and the Sasuke of now was back. He sat up and stifled a yawn, covering his mouth with one hand, and then glowered at the man in his living room.

"What are you doing here?"

"Sasuke, what happened?"

The raven scowled deeply, looking away and folding his arms over his chest. He remained silent for so long Kakashi was about to repeat his question before he spoke in a rather soft voice, "It was nothing. I just got into a few fights is all."

"A few?!" Kakashi replied, trying to keep himself from exploding. "Who the hell did you fight besides Itachi? How many times?"

"It was just some moronic student that was annoying me, that's all," Sasuke said flippantly, waving a hand dismissively at the silver-haired man. Kakashi wondered briefly just who (besides himself) was capable of annoying Sasuke into showing emotion, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. He would pester the younger man about that later.

The raven stood up, stretching his arms out and yawning openly. "Like I said, it was nothing."

"As for your black eye, the bruise forming on your cheek, and maybe the cut under your eye," Kakashi stated, pointing at Sasuke's face rather rudely, "I can believe someone else did that. Itachi wouldn't mar your facial features, at least not on purpose. But as for your chest—how many times did you fight with him?!"

"I didn't," The raven replied flatly, and Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Oh shove it, Sasuke, I know you got into a fight with him! How many times?"

"Two."

He was on the verge of exploding. Clenching his fists tightly and taking deep breaths, Kakashi growled out, "I told you _never _to try that again. Do you know what could've happened to you?" This kid was crazy. It didn't matter how many birthdays Sasuke had, he would always still be a little, naïve boy in Kakashi's eyes—especially when he pulled stupid shit like this.

"Whatever," Sasuke replied, walking out of the room and across the hall to the bathroom. "You can reprimand me later, guardian-like figure. What time is it?"

"Twenty minutes until homeroom starts."

"Shit."

What a lovely way to start the morning.

* * *

Sasuke was about ready to explode.

This morning was not going well.

First off, he woke up sore on his living room couch to the sound of Kakashi calling him 'Sasu-chan'. Yeah, not exactly the greatest wake up call.

Second off, he woke up sore on his living room couch to the sound of Kakashi calling him 'Sasu-chan' LATE. He should've known he was late by the fact Kakashi was there, but still. He was about to be late for his homeroom period in three minutes and certainly not dressed like a teacher. He didn't have time to put on a suit while rushing, and Kakashi was no help as he laughed while lounging in the doorway. Which reminded him—how in the hell did that guy get into his house, anyways? He knew Itachi locked the door behind him; his brother was rather particular about that. Did he have a copy of the key or something? He needed to get his lock changed. Wait, how in the hell did he get the copy in the first place?

Creeper. (1)

Third off, he had a fucking black eye. At least when Itachi beat the shit out of him, he left bruises in places no one would see. But that dumbass student of his actually hit him in the face. The swelling on his lip had disappeared, at least—he'd used an old family recipe to make swelling go down. But this black eye was a problem. It was rather obvious since his skin was so damn pale. And he was rather woozy, since when Kakashi was tending to his wounds he'd found one on the other side of Sasuke's neck that was still bleeding. He'd fallen asleep sometime around five, which meant it had been bleeding for a little over two hours. He must've lost a lot of blood.

And fourth off, now that Kakashi had gotten over his encounter with Itachi, the stupid man wouldn't shut up about his black eye. The whole ten minutes he'd spent getting ready that dumbass followed him, laughing hysterically at the fact that he'd gotten a black eye from his student. He had not rushed through getting ready because he was late; Uchihas never rush because it symbolizes humbling yourself to someone else or something weird like that (it wasn't as if he could keep track of all the crazy reasons for the rules he had spat at him by his brother.) He'd simply done something similar to it. After all, he wasn't about to be late for homeroom. He had a reputation to keep.

Which was why, with three minutes until homeroom started, Sasuke was walking at a slightly faster pace than normal people do to get to his classroom with Kakashi trailing behind him, still making fun of him. He wasn't walking slightly faster because he was rushing (since, after all, Uchihas do not rush) but merely because he was naturally faster than the rest of the human race. Yes. That was it.

He was not rushing.

"Maa, Sasu-chan, slow down," Kakashi whined rather childishly, walking a number of steps behind Sasuke. The raven ignored him and continued to walk at his fast pace, the hallways practically empty and the sound of his shoes hitting the tiles amplified tenfold. "That black eye from a sixteen-year-old really has you fired up, huh?"

Sasuke tensed up, clenching his teeth and fists tight, but remained silent. _He's just saying this to get to me. He's been doing it since I woke up. I will not snap out on him. I will not fall into his stupid trap and strangle him. No, I will remain silent and unaffected. I will not kill him._

"Guess it can't be helped," The older man said, sighing heavily. "After all, for a great Uchiha to be beaten down by a teenager how many years younger than him—of course it would get him riled up."

_I will not kill him, I will not kill him, I will not kill him, I will not--_

"Because surely someone like _Uchiha Sasuke_ should be able to take down a little kid without problem, so for him to not be able to must mean something. And that something would definitely get him angry."

_Screw it! _Sasuke's mind screamed as he stopped and turned around slowly to look at Kakashi. _Just because that moron got in a lucky punch doesn't mean anything! I'm not weaker than him!_

"Hatake--"

"Look, we're at your class!" Kakashi smiled brightly under his mask (or so one assumed—why in the hell did he wear that thing, anyways?) and waved Sasuke off, walking lazily beyond him. "See you in the teacher's room later, Sasu-chan!" The raven watched his coworker, clad in a surprisingly tasteful black and olive green suit, walk down the hallway whistling with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Sasuke glared at the white door in front of him, mentally attempting to calm himself down. Everything would be fine. If you didn't count that blonde kid, the whole class could be intimidated simply by his glare. He would use that to his advantage just as soon as he calmed down. Calm.

He slowly opened the door, taking in deep breaths, and stepped inside the brightly lit classroom just as the late bell rang. Everyone snapped into their seats and the room became deathly quiet as Sasuke squared his shoulders and slid the door closed behind him. He strode up to the podium imperially, a deep and cold, "Good morning," escaping his lips before he even realized it. He'd fallen into his morning routine, in which he did his daily things without even thinking about it.

The tension in the air thickened as a chorus of jumbled replies came at him. Sasuke set his plan book on the podium, sighing softly, and then looked up at the class emotionlessly. The whole room flinched slightly in fear with the exception of the blonde he'd encountered yesterday, who was grinning brightly. The Uchiha took notice of the bruises on the man's face and felt a wave of relief wash over him—he looked better than his student did.

The mix of dark colors that swirled around the blonde's right eye brought a rush of joyous and triumphant feelings to Sasuke. Those bright blue orbs that disgusted Sasuke so thoroughly seemed much more diluted thanks to the bruise, and the bags hanging under his eye were dark—no doubt due to having to finish that homework assignment he'd given. Those fucking eyes, bright like the sun and blue like a vast ocean, they weren't so powerful when they were accompanied with that black eye.

Sasuke decided he liked the teen better with a black eye.

"We're going to start by taking role. Aburame Shino."

"Yes, Uchiha-sensei."

* * *

Naruto loved it. The lovely feeling that washed over him when the stuck-up Uchiha entered the classroom, he loved it. He was already sure he'd given his teacher a black eye, and he was just dying to see how beautifully it would stand out on his pallid skin. He felt so proud of himself that he, Uzumaki Naruto, his student, had given him a black eye.

How's that for a lesson in humility?

"That weird smile hasn't left your face yet, Naruto," Chouji commented to his blonde friend while munching on a bag of chips. "He must really look like shit, huh? With broken bones and everything."

Naruto's smile faltered slightly as he realized just what his friends were expecting the Uchiha to look like. Because of...er, well, since he hadn't been at his best when he fought yesterday, he and the Uchiha were pretty evenly matched. Because if he'd fought that bastard when he'd been completely unexhausted and stuff, he would've won hands down! But he hadn't been, so the raven looked about as bad as he did.

And he didn't look too bad.

"Well, uh, you see—er, uh, I--" Naruto stammered, squirming uncomfortably as Chouji stared at him, the crunching sound of his chips seemingly amplified by every second. He glanced at Shikamaru, whose eyes were half-lidded and caused Naruto to wonder if the boy was even awake. But then he noticed a certain look in the boy's eyes, and he knew Shikamaru knew the truth. Then again, Shikamaru always knew when Naruto lied.

The blonde opened his mouth to attempt to speak once again, but silenced himself as the classroom door slid open. His eyes snapped to the doorway, all the while praying it was some replacement teacher telling them the Uchiha had moved to Antarctica. The pale man would blend right in with the snow, anyways. I mean, really, had he never heard of sunshine before?

He snapped back out of his thoughts as he watched his teacher stride rather gallantly to the front of the room, a murderous look on his face. A proud grin slowly spread across Naruto's face as he noticed the black eye.

Oh, he was _good_.

Sasuke's hair was devoid of gel and so the back spiked out the way he'd seen it yesterday, defying gravity. Briefly he wondered just how it could stay up like that without gel, but then he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. He noticed, with much joy, the dark ring around Sasuke's right eye, but frowned as he noticed a small white bandage underneath it. Naruto was positive he hadn't cut the man. He didn't have on any jewelry when he fought the older man, so he knew that couldn't have been from him. (2)

The thought slightly unnerved him.

Cobalt eyes continued to rove down Sasuke's face, noting with much distaste the swelling on the Uchiha's lip had disappeared. His left cheek was colored slightly darker than the rest of his skin, probably from a forming bruise. Naruto also noticed that the man had bandages wrapped around his neck, and on the left side there was the faintest hint of blood seeping through. The older man was wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt under a grey polo shirt and black slacks, which caused Naruto to guess he was hiding more injuries on his arms.

The once proud grin slowly faded off of Naruto's face as the raven's smooth voice began calling out named for roll. He hadn't done all of that. And sure, the guy was a complete dick, but the blonde knew he was in terrible shape and people didn't deserve to get their asses kicked _that_ badly.

Or maybe this was karma?

Yeah, that was it. The Uchiha was just getting what he deserved for treating Naruto so badly. Besides, he doubted the man was seriously hurt.

Naruto returned to listening to his teacher call out names, noting that he was coming up. He wondered if the man even knew his name, and now would be a great time to find out.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"I'm alive and well," The blonde replied rather casually, cupping his face with one hand and leaning forward on the desk, "No thanks to you, sensei." Naruto noticed his voice sounded a lot less hostile than he'd intended for it to come out, but then shrugged it off mentally. Hostility had never really been his thing.

He leaned back in his dark wooden chair and glued his eyes to the ceiling, counting each of the off-white tiles one by one as the Uchiha slowly looked up from his grade book. He could feel those dark, lifeless eyes burning holes into him as they stared rather intently at his lazy form. The room remained in shocked silence as Naruto yawned, stretching his jaw out almost painfully, and then leaned forward on the desk again. He locked gazes with the older man, the indifferent look on his face angering the blonde. It was practically screaming he thought of the teen as a waste of time and space, and wouldn't be showing him any more attention—not even to fight him.

Uzumaki Naruto did not like being ignored.

"Uzumaki-kun."

"What?" He ignored the warning bells that went off in his head when he answered so casually when the older man sounded so seriously. He noticed Kiba out of the corner of his eye staring at Naruto as if he'd gone and grown another head. The light pouring in from the windows began to fade slowly as the clouds darkened, signaling rain. It was going to be a bad day, Naruto thought. He could feel it.

"Inuzuka-kun."

"Yes, sensei?" The brunette's voice was a lot more polite than Naruto's, hoping to stay on the good side of his teacher. He didn't have a death wish.

"Hand me the assignment I gave you yesterday. Now." Naruto ignored the icy tone of his teacher's voice, taking his time to dig through his bag for the paper and pull out a crumpled pile of unordered papers. Kiba appeared before the teacher in a flash, for once acting like a good student with his papers typed up neatly while the blond had done his in pencil.

Naruto sauntered up to the podium slowly with a proud smirk stuck on his face and held his paper out to the Uchiha. "Here you go."

"Is there a problem, Uzumaki-kun?" The pale face in front of him revealed no emotion as he took the paper from his student's hand and set it on the podium in front of him, smoothing it out. Sasuke's eyes never left Naruto's face as his pale fingers ran up and down the lined paper covered in English letters that looked more like scribbles.

Sasuke watched in mild amusement as Naruto grit his teeth together, angered. A tan hand slowly reached out, aiming to touch his bruised eye mockingly, and the raven grabbed the teen's wrist tightly.

"I'd rather you not touch me."

"Ah, but since I'm the cause of such a thing, I couldn't help myself." Naruto grinned widely as Sasuke's grip on his wrist tightened, even though it hurt. He was ticking the stoic man off.

"Take your seat, Uzumaki-kun."

"How did I do on my paper, sensei?" Naruto ignored his teacher's request and leaned in closer, his grin widening. Everyone in the classroom was holding in his or her breath, slightly wincing in fear as the blonde reached out his other hand and brushed some of Sasuke's dark hair out of his face. "I worked so hard just for you."

"Uzumaki-kun." The Uchiha grabbed Naruto's other wrist with his free hand and held it in place tightly, keeping his face impassive. "I will not tell you again. Take your seat."

"But Uchiha-sensei," The blonde whined, his bright eyes crying out mockingly. "I just want to make sure I did it _right_!"

"Would you, now?" He released both of the boy's wrists and took his paper into his hands, and Naruto smiled charmingly. Of course he gave in. No one could resist the great Uzumaki Naruto for long. "I hope you didn't try any shortcuts. I happen to be fluent in Japanese, English, Korean, and French."

"Smart ass," Naruto mumbled so softly only Sasuke heard it. Naruto's only reaction was Sasuke's hand twitching slightly.

"This assignment is worth four hundred points, Uzumaki-kun. That's one-fourth of your entire grade."

The smile fell of Naruto's face in an instant. "F-F-FOUR HUNDRED?!"

"Forty points off for the paper not being typed."

"What! That's not fair! You never know, I might--"

"Twenty points off for the paper being written in English print instead of cursive. This is unacceptable in American high schools."

"We're in Japan, for fu--"

"Ten points off for putting the wrong date. It's no longer March. It's April."

"So what?! They're both in spring! I swear, ba--"

"Five points off for spelling _general _incorrectly. That's g-e-n-e-r-a-l, not j-e-n-e-r-a-l."

"I was one letter off! You can't seriously expect perfection from--"

"I can't? Unfortunately for you, I do. Another five off for spelling _malnutrition _wrong."

"What? That word's not even in there! I know how to--"

"Twenty points off for not putting an indentation at the beginning of any of these paragraphs on page one."

"Indentation? What in fu--"

"Another ten points off for not numbering your pages."

"Who numbers their pages, anyways? It's stu--"

"Another forty points off for all-around lousy handwriting. It's barely readable. In America they call this _crap_."

"Hey! My handwriting is not crap! I know English, you lousy--"

"Five points off for spelling _colorful _wrong."

"Hey! _Colorful_ can be spelled with or without a 'u', so--"

"_Colorful_ does not start with a 'k'."

"What?!" Naruto was bright red by now and the whole class snickered as the blonde's fists tightened. The clouds had opened up by now and were releasing torrents of rain, the heavy sound of the water drops slamming again the windows and wall. Just as he had predicted, it would become a bad day, though he didn't worry about it much at that moment. "I'm not that stupid! I didn't spell it with a 'k'!"

"It's what is on the paper, Uzumaki-kun. Another five points off for incorrect punctuation. You shouldn't have even gotten that wrong. We use the same punctuation here in Japan."

"I didn't make any--"

"Ten points off for not skipping two spaces between sections."

"Who skips spaces, anyway--"

"Twenty points off for spelling everything in the header wrong except for 'the'."

"Th-that can't be right! Let me--"

"Another ten for spelling both _historically _and _accommodate _wrong."

"Sensei!" Naruto's voice wavered slightly, sounding more like a whine than an angry outburst, and by then the entire class was laughing out right. Kiba howled the loudest, clutching his sides and throwing his head back while Shikamaru slept through the entire ordeal. Half of the stubborn girls in the class who had decided they still loved Sasuke laughed all the while thinking of ways to hurt Naruto for annoying _their_ sensei--and yes, they had claimed him.

"Uzumaki-kun, you're already down to half of the total points. At this rate, your scores will be the worst in the class. Shall I continue?" Sasuke kept his face impassive, but the way the corners of his mouth turned up—almost unnoticeably—and the self-satisfaction oozing from the man alerted Naruto he was being looked upon scornfully. In the back of his mind Naruto knew it was his fault; it was like relentlessly poking a hungry lion with a stick.

"Well?"

"No," Naruto grumbled, shooting daggers at his teacher. He crossed his arms over his chest huffily and retook his seat, slamming down into it and muttering about 'know-it-all bastards with sticks stuck up their asses.'

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly, all hints of amusement having dissipated, and the class silenced immediately, knowing it meant that the time for joking around had passed. Normally he wouldn't have even allowed that kind of joking around, like hell there should be laughter in his classroom, but this was a rare, once in a lifetime exception. He slid Naruto's paper on the shelf under the podium, planning to officially grade it later.

The Uchiha opened up the thin textbook he'd set in front of him earlier, scanning over his notes for today's lesson. His dark eyes remained focused on the pages before him as he called out Kiba's voice chillingly.

"Y-yes, sensei?" Kiba winced at how pathetic he sounded, but then decided his pride could suffer for now. He had a feeling the older man was pissed, and after seeing the way he made a fool out of his friend in front of everyone (which meant the whole school would soon know, especially with Ino and Sakura in the class) he decided it would be wise to not risk it.

"You received three hundred and fifty points out of four hundred." Kiba's mouth fell open as Sasuke turned to the board, picking up a piece of white gingerly between two fingers. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Naruto mirroring his expression; did he just say he got _three hundred and fifty _of the points?

That was probably the best grade he would get all semester.

"B-but, but, you didn't even look at it," He sputtered, his eyes widening as he realized how wonderful of a grade he'd just gotten. The Uchiha slowly turned around, glowering slightly at Kiba.

"So?"

"So that's not fair!" Naruto exploded, standing up violently, and Sasuke's glare changed targets. His light pink lips remained closed, those narrow eyes simply glaring at him. The tension thickened in the air, swirling around the throats of the students and nearly choking them. They all watched, wide-eyed and jaws slacked, completely amazed by the idiocy of the loud blonde.

Gradually the blonde backed down, letting a growl escape his lips from deep inside his throat, and retook his seat. Sasuke turned back to the board, writing the topic of the lesson for today's lesson now that the blonde had wasted the entire homeroom period.

"Oh, and Inuzuka-kun," Sasuke said rather off-handedly, making the coffee-haired boy perk up.

"Yeah?"

"If you're wondering what the fifty points off are for, it's for actually believing your idiotic friend could injure me."

It took every person around Naruto to hold him back.

* * *

(1) I have this amazing picture example of creepers, but I won't show it to you. :D creepers make the world go round.

(2) Naruto doesn't know that bare knuckles can also cause cuts. :D

I'm working on four now. Sort of. I might rewrite it.

I have an lj. If you do as well hit me up :D especially if you also like Lolita fashion or gyaru. Just hit me up peoplesss.

Send me all of your ideas, predictions, praise, whatever. Reviews make me smiiiile. :D


	4. Lesson 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, because I'm not Masashi Kishimoto. Hell, I'm not even Japanese.

**Author's Note:** Once again, thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! I'm trying to reply to all of your reviews, and I'm sorry if I missed anyone.

Anyways, not much to say except, hey this update came faster. Enjoy!

_Anything written like this is Sasuke or Naruto speaking in English._

**Setting**: Shibuya, Yoyogi Uehara, and a Japanese Private School located near Shibuya. April.

**Ages:** Students are 16-17. Sasuke is 24, and Kakashi&Co are 24-26.

This is (obviously) an AU. That means that (occasionally, I will try very hard not to) the characters can get a little OOC. I'm trying not to let that happen, but please bear with me!

Okay, onto the fanfic!

**Summary: **Uzumaki Naruto is a terrible student in school who has a special talent--he can seduce just about any male. When his newest male teacher demands perfection from everyone, what is he to do? Put that talent to use, of course! SasuNaruSasu, AU.

* * *

**Seduction**

**Lesson Four**

* * *

Three long, painstakingly long weeks passed from the day Sasuke humiliated Naruto in front of the entire classroom. From that day forward there was always heavy tension in the air that doubled whenever Naruto successfully caught Sasuke's eye. People still giggled about it, but no one dared to even breathe too loud in homeroom 1-B in fear of having Sasuke's wrath unleashed on them. Though the raven had a reputation for being completely impassive at all times, it seemed there was only one person who could change that.

Naruto didn't feel honored in the least.

He had given up on trying to seduce his teacher, though it was more like he'd simply forgotten. From the second they'd exchanged blows he'd forgotten, and he was becoming more and more blind to the Uchiha's ridiculously good looks with every dark look they exchanged. Uzumaki Naruto wasn't the type of person to let himself be stepped all over; he'd already had enough of that in his life.

He was actually doing something he never thought he could do—hate someone silently.

Silence doesn't come easy to Naruto, because, well...he's Naruto. He loves to talk and does it often, and he loves to express his opinion. But every time he was tempted to say something smart to that raven-haired jackass, he just looked at those eyes and his mouth clamped shut. It was almost like a contest on both parts of who could remain silent the longest.

Though truthfully, even Naruto had his bets on Sasuke. If it weren't for the fact Sasuke's job required him to talk, Naruto would think he were a mute.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was relieved about the teen's silence. Sure, at first he was shocked that someone like him had managed to stay quiet for so long, but then he just thanked the gods and decided not to question his good fortune.

It wasn't even that he really _hated _the blond. He just...hell, okay, yes he did hate that obnoxious blond. He couldn't even help but hate him. No one should be that loud and irritating! And just the sight of him made Sasuke want to grab his throat and choke him because he was so damn _bright_.

And he surely wasn't talking about intelligence. In that situation, the kid was a total dumbass.

A human shouldn't be walking sunshine, but apparently that American-looking kid didn't get the memo. His hair was so bright, like someone had dyed his hair with the sun, and his eyes were so vast and blue like an ocean on a clear day. Those eyes always sparkled so magnificently, like bits of diamonds were hidden in there, and his smile was blinding.

Some would even say that, physically, the kid was perfection.

Not Sasuke, though, since the idiot wasn't his type. What _was _his type? Hmm…

...yeah, he'd have to get back to you on that one.

Anyways.

Sasuke himself was more like a pitch-black cloud and he knew that. Normally he put out anyone's flame of happiness with his mere presence. It was as if rain poured down like sheets, drenching everything until the world was as damp and put out as he constantly was.

So why the hell was that kid still always so happy?!

He saw him in the hallways, during lunch period, after school sometimes, and it made him want to punch the shit out of him all over again. That stupid smile and peppy voice; did he ever shut up? One of these days he'd slit that kid's throat so skillfully, and watch as that smile slipped off his face as he tried to gurgle out a response in his dying moments. His cerulean eyes would be dulled to the point that they looked grey, and the blood would rapidly flow down his throat, dying his caramel skin dark re—oh, hell, he was doing it again.

Damn it, why did he have to be related to Itachi? That fucker messed up people's minds. Only by being related to Itachi did such vivid thoughts of someone's death easily slip into your mind.

Such...beautiful, vivid thoughts...

* * *

It was a warm afternoon towards the end of April when Naruto remembered his initial plan. The schoolyard was littered with cherry blossoms eagerly waiting their time to bloom and the sky was clear with the exception of a few colorless wisps floating about. The sun was beating down comfortingly as Naruto and his friends sat on the rooftop, skipping out on P.E.

Naruto leaned backwards on the rail, closing his eyes and tilting his head back to bask in the sunlight. Kiba hung lazily over the bar, staring at the girls' class down below doing their laps, all the while the overly emphatic P.E teacher Maito Gai shouting out cheery words of 'encouragement'. By squinting the brunette could barely make out the exhausted faces of the girls, wet bangs sticking to their foreheads as they flopped out on the ground, yelling out things like 'I'm going to die!' or 'This is too much for me!'

Kiba watched in mild amusement as one of the girls poured a whole bottle of water over herself, her long black locks and white t-shirt clinging to her. He sighed heavily, deciding she wasn't much to look at anyways, and looked away.

Shikamaru was lying on his back with his hands behind his head, the cool feeling of the light tiled concrete seeping into his back and keeping him from overheating. He stared up at the few clouds with his eyes half-lidded, a soft sigh escaping barely parted lips as a breeze flew by. Shino stood next to Kiba, his hands in his uniform pockets and the blazer collar turned up. He kept his dark, circular sunglasses in front of his eyes as he stared up into the sun, Chouji standing next to him and munching on a bag of chips.

"Today is a nice day," Kiba mumbled, keeping his eyes glued on the class below. He scrunched up his eyebrows in mild annoyance as he watched the class play baseball, the red team winning when he'd mentally bet on the green. "Very nice."

Naruto grunted a sound of agreement.

It became quiet once again save the distant sound of the P.E class, Chouji's incessant eating of potato chips, and the occasional breeze blowing through. Naruto liked how the breeze felt today, gliding through his unruly hair, blowing his blazer back slightly. It was a nice day.

"Hey, Naruto..."

"Hm?"

"Check out the girl with the long ponytail and the blue and pink barrettes," Kiba said rather excitedly, "she's got her shirt halfway off because she's hot. I would love to just plant a huge hickey on her stomach."

The blond turned and looked at the girl in question, and as he raised an appreciative eyebrow he had to agree. Her skin looked perfect, slightly tanned but with a healthy glow, and her eyes were attractively large and he could see a glimmer in them, even from this distance. Or maybe that was just the sun. Either way, she was hot.

"She _is _pretty hot," Naruto replied, slinging himself over the rail in a manner similar to Kiba's. The brunette didn't say anything for a moment and then turned and stared curiously at the blond, his eyes dilated slightly.

After a few minutes of being relentlessly stared at by Kiba, Naruto sighed and look at his friend. "_What_, in God's name, do you want?"

"You didn't mention Uchiha-sensei at the end of that."

"Come to think of it," Chouji interjected, crumbling up the empty blue bag of potato chips in his hands, "you haven't mentioned him very much for the past three weeks. Does this have something to do with him humiliating you in front of everyone?"

"No." Naruto turned away from his friends quickly, a slight pout making a way onto his face. He didn't want them to see his blush.

"Obviously, it does," Shino said, ignoring Naruto. He slowly turned his head to face Chouji, sticking out his finger for a hovering butterfly to perch on. "Or maybe it has something to do with the fight they had the night before. Either way, it points back to the first and second days of our second year."

"It has nothing to do with that!" He denied his friend's explanation with much declaration in his voice; it had nothing to do with those two days! He just...he didn't like the raven, and that was all it was. Simple as that.

"Yeah, like every time Naruto actually catches Uchiha-sensei eye, the tension in the room doubles! Almost as if sensei secretly hates Naruto, too." Kiba perked up slightly, the topic of conversation energizing him, and tapped his chin in thought.

"Hello! Can't you hear me anymore? He has nothing to do with anything!" Naruto waved his hands around, staring at each of his friends pointedly, but they continued to ignore him, though this time silently. He almost sighed in contentment and went back to his previous lazing around before Chouji spoke again, as if he'd never heard Naruto in the first place.

"Maybe Naruto really _did _give him that black eye, and that's why he hates him." Chouji was eating another bag of chips again, and Naruto briefly wondered if the boy had the ability to materialize chips out of air.

Seriously. Chouji had an unlimited supply on hand every single day.

"That would explain a lot," Shino agreed, nodding. Kiba furrowed up his eyebrows in confusion. "But then why would Uchiha-sensei give me those fifty points off if Naruto hadn't done anything? It doesn't make sense!"

"It makes perfect sense, Kiba," Shikamaru said, spontaneously jumping into the conversation. His lips barely moved as he spoke and his eyes were closed now, but apparently he'd heard the entire thing. "He probably just has a lot of pride, and Naruto attempting to touch his eye and apologize for doing it practically obliterated it. He just needed a way to salvage his pride, and in the manner he did it, everyone ended up believing him and not Naruto. Problem solved, and he has a huge ego."

"Hello! Am I not speaking Japanese or something?!" Naruto glared at his friends after his outburst, the four of them finally looking at him after he raised his voice. "_Can you understand me now?_ Huh?!"

The four of them stared at Naruto silently for a moment before Shikamaru mumbled, "He said something about understanding him now."

"Well, fuck, Naruto," Kiba said, a grin spreading across his face, "If all you need is to be angry to speak perfect English, I can help you ace that class!"

"That's not funny!" Naruto replied weakly, though a smile was itching to appear on his face.

"Sure it's not. Well, anyways, goldilocks, you'd better get right on repairing your relationship with Uchiha-sensei."

Naruto tilted his head to the right slightly, his eyebrows scrunched up. "Why?"

"Why?" Chouji repeated the blond and then burst out into laughter, bits of chips spraying everywhere. Shino glared at Chouji as the soggy bits flew onto his sunglasses, dragging his jacket sleeve over the lens. He refused to ever take off his sunglasses, and apparently the Uchiha couldn't care less, so he was permitted to wear them through classes.

Naruto tugged on Kiba's shoulder, glowering at him, and inquired in a low voice, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, really," The boy replied with a shrug, pocketing his hands, "Just that you're going to fail, that's all. You'll be stuck repeating second year again."

"What?"

"We've got a huge test coming up, worth two hundred points. And considering your last grade, I think you might want to ace this test so you don't need to repeat your second year. Grades are going to be really important this year. Damn, I need to study, too..." Kiba's voice got lower and lower as he trailed off, finally settling for muttering to himself.

"Oh my gosh."

Naruto's voice was barely above a whisper and all color drained from his face. His hands gripped the rail so tightly his knuckles turned a ghostly white, matching the lovely new shade his face had acquired. How had he really just brushed it off so easily?

Sasuke hated him, but without that man's affection he wouldn't pass. Hell, at this rate, the raven would probably pass Kiba just to make the blond miserable. He'd be alone, look stupid, disgrace his family and Iruka, and never find love because everyone would call him stupid! Besides, his aunt would murder him. She already wasn't too happy about the grade on his last paper, and if he failed...

Naruto shuddered at the mental image. He would mysteriously disappear, though in reality he would be tied up in his basement, being skinned slowly before ripping out all of his hair and then cutting him into small, crouton sized pieces...

"Yep," Kiba said, understanding the look on Naruto's face all too well. He wasn't even related to Tsunade, yet she scared the crap out of him and could beat the crap out of him (she'd done it more than once before.) He clamped a heavy hand down on his blond friend's shoulder comfortingly, sighing heavily and shaking his head in sympathy. "It's too bad. If only the Uchiha liked you, huh, Naruto?"

If only, huh?

Naruto turned to Kiba slowly, a broad smile spreading across his face. Maybe there was still a chance he could win that bastard over...even if it did mean surrendering his dignity; he'd rather lose that than his life.

"When exactly is this exam?"

"Four days. Why?" It was Kiba's turn to look confused. He knew the blond was most likely plotting something, but there was no way Naruto could do three weeks worth of learning in four days. Three weeks of learning usually took Naruto a month at the least.

"I've got to go. I'll see you guys later!" Naruto tore away from the pole and made a dash for the open door, flying through it so fast it caused the door to shake.

The three conscious ones (Shikamaru had fallen asleep awhile ago) stared at the spot the blond blur had once been.

What was he planning?

* * *

**DAYS LEFT UNTIL EXAM: 4.**

Naruto raced through the school frantically, searching for the Uchiha. His heavy footsteps echoed in the lonely, brightly lit hallway coupled with his rapidly increasing breaths. How could have possibly forgotten?!

It was true, he shamefully admitted to himself as he neared the third year's teacher room, that when he decided he hated someone, everything else about them became blurred. If he hadn't have felt so much contempt towards the older man, he would've been reminded of his goal daily by those breathtaking looks. How did he forget?

Sasuke's skin had such a resplendent glow, but it was soft, like a mist. His eyes were endless, every color and emotion whirled into one, yet they were so--

Naruto's thought process went skidding to a sudden halt as he slammed right into someone who had, apparently, also been rushing. He bounced back and stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet and landing ungracefully on his ass. He mentally cursed whomever he'd run into; they were lucky enough to catch their balance and keep from falling.

"Oh, shit...I'm really sorry, real...ly..."

Oh, great.

Of course. He'd run right into Uchiha Sasuke.

Oh, the irony.

* * *

Sasuke was about two seconds away from punching the shit out of whoever had just ran into him. Did they not know not to run into a pissed person? And he was pissed. As usual.

"Oh, shit."

That voice was familiar. Very, very familiar.

"I'm really sorry, real...ly..."

Sasuke looked down to see the azure eyes that had been haunting him all day staring back up at him, wide in shock. The blond, what was his name? Naruto? He shook his head slightly, trying to toss his bangs out of his eyes that just grazed his eyelashes. He parted his lips slightly, as if preparing to speak, but then closed it again.

The Uchiha stared down at him in silence, mentally debating on whether he should say something or do something. Should he point out that the boy had just spoken rather rudely? Should he ask if he was all right? He mentally crossed out the second choice; he didn't want to seem to caring. He opted for extending his hand while glaring at the ungraceful heap on the floor. Remind him exactly why he was a teacher?

Sasuke gently pulled the boy up, staring expectantly at him and waiting for some kind of conversation to start. When seconds turned into minutes of the silence, the brunet decided he'd simply had enough and brushed past the blond.

What an idiot. To think he'd just wasted a whole two minutes on the teen.

"W-wait!" Naruto's hand grabbed onto his sleeve in a grip that refused to let go. "Please wait a moment, sensei."

Sasuke turned around just enough to see the boy he was speaking to, blue eyes staring sweetly at him. Ugh, talk about toothache.

"What is it?"

Naruto frowned at the older man's cold reply, his grip slackening, and Sasuke knew exactly what the boy was thinking—what a poor excuse for a teacher. So what if he wasn't nice like other teachers; it wasn't like he did this for fun.

"I need..." The blond trailed off, his hand sliding down Sasuke's arm slowly and causing the raven to briefly wonder just what the blond was doing. Why was he still touching him? It felt weird. "...your help."

"My help with what?" His face remained impassive; he wasn't catching onto what the boy was trying to do. His voice was somewhat low, a little breathy even, and his eyes seemed much different, as if beckoning him. They weren't the same eyes of hate that had stared him down for the past three weeks; what was up with this kid?

"Studying..." Naruto began dragging his pointer finger up Sasuke's arm, looking at him through his elongated eyelashes. The Uchiha raised a thin eyebrow in question; did he look like he wanted to help anyone study? And if so, someone please tell him how so he could refrain from looking such a way in the future.

"No."

That strange look fell off the younger man's face in a flash, much to Sasuke's relief. He didn't like being looked at like that, especially not by Naruto.

Oh, crap. He'd just named the idiot.

"No? What do you mean, no?"

"No means I am refusing your proposition, Uzumaki-kun," Sasuke replied smoothly, his right eyebrow lifting every so slightly. He saw the anger flash in the teen's face and chose to ignore it. "Now if you will excuse me, I need to go." He started to walk away, that tan hand falling from his arm, but then Uzumaki stepped in front of him. His eyebrows were furrowed deeply and his mouth was set into a scowl, those angry eyes he'd seen so often returning full force.

"No, I won't excuse you! You're my homeroom teacher; why shouldn't you help me? You gave me this damn assignment of studying anyways!" Naruto folded his arms over his chest and waited expectantly for an answer.

"Why shouldn't I?" Sasuke repeated, rather amused by the question. His lips spread into a faint smirk. "You don't make any effort to take notes in my class. You rarely, if ever, hand in your assignments. You and that annoying brunette whisper constantly like you have no sense, and I think it's rather obvious I'm not too fond of you either."

"W-well," Naruto sputtered, and Sasuke could feel the teen's eyes searching for some kind of weakness in his own. But since he was an Uchiha, and Uchihas have no weaknesses, the boy's search was fruitless. "I'm trying to become a better student, and you're not much of a help!"

"I never said I would be." The raven's reply was smooth and curt, obviously trying to cut off the conversation.

"Sensei!" The blond stomped his foot in irritation, his hands coiling into tight fists. "Stop being such a bastard!"

"As soon as you stop being such an idiot."

"Y-you!" He pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke, his voice rising with every word. Was he really surprised? It was the same way when he'd punched the blond that night. His face had been so shocked, as if he thought Sasuke wouldn't live up to what he'd said. "You just called me an idiot!"

"Yeah, well, you just called me a bastard."

"But that's because you are one," Naruto snapped, and Sasuke simply replied, "And you, Uzumaki-kun, are an idiot."

"But you're a teacher!"

"And you're a student. Your point?"

"You shouldn't call your students names. It's not very professional or mature."

"Oh, I bet you know all about mature, don't you," Sasuke replied sarcastically, wishing he could roll his eyes. But he was an Uchiha, and Uchihas did not roll their eyes. Big surprise, huh?

"Bastard!"

"Idiot."

The younger man threw his hands up in exasperation, muttering curses under his breath. He turned around, as if to walk away, before looking back at Sasuke again with a scowl on his face.

The corner of the Uchiha's lips slowly turned upward in a satisfied smirk, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at the frustrated boy. Oh, how he loved this feeling, this great feeling of strength. He had heard many times from other people that the worst strength was the kind gotten from another's suffering, but hadn't Itachi told him differently?

Right now he loved his brother for telling him differently.

"You know, sensei," The blond began, inching closer to Sasuke with that beckoning look back on his soft face. "You look great in that suit. Pinstripes just work so well for you."

"No."

"Damn it!"

Sasuke brushed past Naruto, who was deep in thought, purposefully knocking his shoulder. He shoved his hands into his pockets and continued down towards the second year teacher's room, since he'd told Kakashi to meet him there.

"Just you wait, Sasuke!" The raven's eyebrow twitched; why in the hell did that kid still address him so familiarly?! He barely knew him!

He resisted the urge to turn back around and shove his fist down that annoying blond's throat, deciding to try the more practical choice and ignore him.

"I'll just annoy you into surrender! You'll help me if it's the last thing you do!"

"Idiot," Sasuke muttered, a small smirk on his lips.

"I know where you live! Sasukeeee!"

* * *

**DAYS LEFT UNTIL EXAM: 3.**

Naruto slid through the closing train doors quickly, narrowly avoiding being squashed between them. He sighed heavily in relief and flopped down onto the nearest bench, nonchalantly throwing his schoolbag and jacket beside him. The train was silent save for the hum of the train moving fluidly over the tracks, and the blond realized how different the five forty-five morning train was from the seven o' clock morning train.

The usual groups of boisterous high school girls with their palettes of brightly colored make-up and baggy socks were replaced by the silent girls and guys who had their noses buried in their textbooks and un-dyed hair. Their uniforms were pressed neatly, not a wrinkle visible, no colorful barrettes in the girls' hair and no chains hanging around any of the guys' necks. There was a quiet 'sshk' sound as a page was turned, but the volume didn't gradually rise like the keyboards on the businessmen's' laptops.

There were a few homeless people sleeping soundly on the benches, curling up tightly to conserve warmth, with a book or something under their heads as a pillow. They were off in a section in their own, almost as if people were trying to avoid them, and Naruto wouldn't have been surprised if that were the case. Students like those who thought they were much too good for anyone, who thought no one would ever reach their level of intelligence; they never would stoop so low as to associate with people who didn't even have a home.

But, Naruto thought, he really shouldn't jump to such conclusions. After all, like that weird western saying, 'You can't judge a book by its cover.' Maybe some of them were nice.

One of the sleeping men shifted on the bench, coughing lightly, and every single one of them visibly flinched, as if expecting him to taint them with his dirt. A few of them exchanged glances and they all tried to laugh discreetly into their hands, putting up a polite front.

Okay, maybe they were all a bunch of snobby bitches. He already didn't like this train.

If it weren't for damn Sasuke, he wouldn't ride this early ever again. But since he'd forgotten exactly where the Uchiha lived, he would just have to bug him during the school hours.

He was absolutely determined to pass this upcoming exam. Since yesterday the stoic man had acted completely oblivious to Naruto's advances, he'd just have to become a good student (and stalker.)

He had skipped out on going back down to Shibuya yesterday, though he knew Gaara would be mad at him for not visiting. (Sure enough, when Naruto returned from the convenience store down the street, there was a message from the silent teen that just radiated murderous intent. 'Where are you? I hope to see you tomorrow, Naruto.' It gave him the shivers just thinking of it.) As soon as he got home, he sat at the living room table, took out his Math book, a sheet of paper, a pencil, and proceeded to work.

Well, he tried to work. Staring at those numbers just made him so tired, and he ended up sleeping for two hours. Then he'd gone to the convenience store, and after that he cracked down and did his best with the assignment. It was hard to understand any of it without notes, and since Sakura was out, he'd simply struggled with it for four hours.

Four. Not one, or two, or three, but FOUR DAMN HOURS.

It was then he decided to buy a notebook for taking notes and put his assignment book to use. He had never noticed before that 'assignment book' had the word 'assignment' in it, as in homework. Ironic, huh? (1)

He would be a really agreeable student in class today, and then Sasuke would help him out. And then, when Sasuke decided to help him out, he'd lean in so close their breath mingled and whisper something seductive, sultry. Sasuke's cheeks would get pink before he put on a dismissive face and turned away from Naruto, but Naruto wouldn't let him. He'd grab his chin, turn his face back towards him, and smash their lips together. After Sasuke got over the initial shock he'd kiss Naruto back with such determination and Naruto would wrap his arms around the stoic man's neck, their tongues clashing fiercely.

And then...Sasuke would screw him right into his desk in the teacher's room. Four times, once for every hour he spent doing that stupid assignment.

Ugh, assignment...

Well, that just killed the mood.

* * *

Naruto arrived at the school at six-thirty. He strode right into the building with a smile plastered on his face, ignoring the strange looks and whispers from some of his old teachers (who were not-so-quietly whispering things like, 'is that Uzumaki Naruto?!' and 'is it daylight savings' already?') He marched right to his homeroom door, reaching for the handle to fling it open, before he heard whispering.

"...was your night out yesterday, Sasuke?"

It sounded like his physics teacher, Kakashi-sensei, was the one talking to Sasuke. Naruto rather liked the man. He seemed friendly, though he was slightly (overly) perverted. He was lazy and had weird, mismatched eyes, but Naruto could actually learn in that class, so it made him cool.

"Strained."

"Why? He still mad about your littl--"

"Would you shut up about it? No one remembers but you. He was just...tense, that's all. I don't know."

"Trouble in paradise? Does he have you sleeping on the couch yet?"

"First of all, I have my own home where I live alone, dumbass. Second of all, you're fucked up in the head."

Naruto leaned against the door, pressing his ear against it to hear the conversation better. Trouble in paradise, sleeping on the couch, he'd heard all those sayings plenty of times, and they were usually referring to an intimate relationship. Did that mean Sasuke already had a boyfriend?! Naruto had never considered that as a possibility, and it made everything so much harder. He hoped the man was younger than Sasuke.

"Don't get so angry. You're seeing him again tonight, right?"

"No. He has a business meeting in Nagasaki. He tried to drag me along, but I refused."

"I thought you were interested in that."

"I just don't feel like going."

"Oh, so there _is _trouble in paradise."

"When was this ever paradise? I must've been asleep all that time."

"Don't get all depressed on me, Sasuke. You'll be fine. Regardless of what you say, you guys love each other."

"Bite me."

"Gladly. I love younger men, you know." There was the sound of people moving around and then a heavy thud, which Naruto suspected was someone falling to the floor. He heard a small giggle and briefly he wondered just what the two of them were doing in there.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

Naruto slid the door open with a bright smile on his face, chirping out, "Good morning, Uchiha-sensei!"

Sasuke's eyes snapped to Naruto, widening slightly in shock with his jaw slacked (well, as slacked as an Uchiha's jaw gets, which really isn't much.) Kakashi, who was sprawled on top of Sasuke with his face in the crook of the other man's neck, lifted his head slowly and looked at Naruto. He smiled under his mask (shouldn't it be against school policy to wear one of those?) and greeted the teen rather calmly.

The Uchiha pushed Kakashi off of him promptly, looking rather pissed as he stood, straightening out his clothes. He was wearing a crisp, white dress shirt tucked into black slacks and a black tie. There were faint, dark rings around his eyes, suggesting he hadn't slept very much, and the bruise around his eye had healed quite well. There were still faint remnants of the bruise on his cheeks, and the bandages around his knuckles were still there, but those seemed almost permanent now.

"Uzumaki-kun." The raven's voice was laced in ice, though that was nothing new. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Nothing, I just came to ask you for help, that's all," Naruto said, his smile widening as Sasuke's features darkened, "There were a few things in our math assignment I wasn't too sure on."

"I'll leave you to help out your student," Kakashi said, standing and brushing himself off. "Talk to you later, Sasuke. Ja!" The silver-haired man walked out of the room, pausing briefly to smile at Naruto and shake his head before leaving and sliding the door closed behind him. The blond's eyes followed the other man until he left, and then snapped back to stare into his teacher's deep ones.

They continued to stare in silence for the next few minutes, Sasuke standing with his arms crossed over his chest and Naruto clutching his school bag in his left hand. The blond wondered just what the other man was thinking about; was he thinking about his problems with his boyfriend? And if he were having problems, wouldn't this be the best place for Naruto to come in? So Sasuke could cry on his shoulder?

Then again, he doubted Sasuke ever needed anyone's shoulder, let alone his student's.

"Take your seat, Uzumaki-kun." Sasuke turned away from Naruto, striding over to his black laptop bag that was against the wall behind the podium. Naruto obliged, walking slowly and keeping his eyes on the raven the entire time for reasons unknown to himself.

"Actually, sensei," He repeated, undoing the clasps on his school bag and taking out his needed books, "I need your help with my math assignment. I was having trouble with it last night."

Sasuke turned just enough to look at the blond boy and replied, "You mean _you _did your assignment," his voice dripping with amusement and obvious disbelief. The blond blushed slightly, scowling slightly and replying in a slightly irritated voice, "Yes, I did, and I didn't get a few things."

"Guess it can't be helped. You _are _an idiot, after all."

Naruto bristled at the insult, but ignored it momentarily. "So does that mean you'll help me?"

"No." His hard, black eyes stared into endless blue in silence, and even though his face was completely impassive, he just kept waiting for him to pull a Kiba and say, grinning widely, "Psych!"

Needless to say, it never came.

"You're a crappy teacher, you know that?" The blond spoke after the silence dragged out too long, and smirked as Sasuke flinched.

"And you're a crappy student."

"I'm trying to get better, bastard, but you're no help!"

"When, exactly, did I ever say I would be?"

Naruto let out a deep, throaty growl as the raven raised a questioning eyebrow, as if challenging the blond.

"And that," The blond finally replied, waving a hand at Sasuke, "Is why you're a crappy teacher."

"Because I don't help out crappy students? I think your reasoning is flawed, Uzumaki-kun. I am supposed to teach, not tutor."

"Stop calling me crappy!" Naruto snapped, and Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I think I recall you calling me crappy first."

"What are you, six?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I'm twenty-four."

"Twenty-four with the mentality of a six-year-old," Naruto sneered, and a smirk began to form on Sasuke's lips.

"Yet you're asking me for help with your math. How old would that make _your _mentality?"

"Cocky ass bastard," The blond hissed, glowering at Sasuke. "You're just mad things are bad with your boyfriend."

Sasuke choked on his own saliva, his face wide open to let the emotions show. "Boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I heard you talking with Kakashi-sensei." Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and smirked all-knowingly, his blue eyes glinting with the happiness of an upper hand. So it was a rather dirty trick, but, whatever. "I heard all about your 'trouble in paradise'. I could tell you were gay."

"You think I'm gay?" Sasuke asked, his eyebrow peaked, though more of in curiosity than mocking. He slowly crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the blond to explain his reasoning.

The blond nodded. "Yes, I do."

"What made you come to that conclusion?" He prodded.

"You just...you don't look like the type who likes, y'know, tacos."(2)

"Tacos?"

"Yeah," Naruto continued, making gestures with his hands, "You know, the female anatomy. Tacos."

Sasuke's smirk morphed into the faint traces of a real, laughing smile as he began to walk closer to Naruto, slowly crossing his arms over his chest. "So you think I don't look like a...taco person. Those Mexican foods just aren't my thing, hm?"

"Well, I mean, if you've got a boyfriend, that kind of proves you prefer hot dogs," Naruto replied easily, ignoring the way Sasuke was approaching him.

"Hot dogs?"

Naruto nodded as Sasuke stopped in front of him, glaring down at him. He was so close their chests were nearly touching, and Naruto could feel the raven's warm breath on his face. _Well, hell, seducing him is easier than I thought!_

"Uzumaki-kun," Sasuke breathed, and the blond looked up at him. He looked almost...human. "Y-yeah, sensei?"

At that moment the Uchiha dropped his false act, his face becoming hard once again and his eyes flashing and yet cold like steel. The human aura he had just moments ago carried around him disappeared in almost an instant, and the royal presence began to hang heavy over the blond. He placed his hands on the desk behind the blond, trapping him, and spoke. "Never, in your life," He spat, his eyes narrowing, "jump to such conclusions about me again. If you do, I will shorten your life _dramatically_. Is that understood?"

Naruto nodded, slightly unnerved by the well-hidden anger in Sasuke's voice as the man turned away from him and walked towards the classroom door. He stopped about halfway there before turning around and saying, "For your information, moron, Kakashi and I weren't talking about any sort of boyfriend. We were talking about my brother. Mind your business."

The Uchiha continued walking, blue eyes boring into his back, and just as he placed a pale hand on the handle Naruto's loud voice spoke, as if unaffected by the threat.

"Does this mean you're not gay?"

* * *

**(1)** The Japanese word for assignment book is _shukudai chou_. The word for assignment, or homework, is _shukudai_. I just felt the need to point that out since, technically, they're all speaking in Japanese.

**(2)** I don't know how many of you have heard this. You know, when people address tacos as vaginas and hot dogs as penises? I'm so lame. XD And apparently, so is Naruto, now. Haha, but I love him to death.

Sasuke is NOT crazy.

Anyways, now that we've got that out of the way—review. I respond to them now like a good fanfic writer, soo…review :D I'm trying, I swear. Please have patience with me.

HAY GAIZ IM MAD EXSITED. I figured out Sasuke's history and life and his relationship with Itachi and all that jazz. : Man, I'm excited. Chapter five might take longer than this, I don't know yet. We'll see.

Thank you for all the response!


	5. Lesson 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Author's Note:** Once again, thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! Hopefully I replied to everyone and if I missed you, I'm truly sorry.

For those of you who didn't read my profile and find out, I was on a hiatus for two weeks because of life. I'm back now, hooray! I'm kind of really stressed out, so please be patient with me. I'm doing my best.

This chapter (and the next) are the last light-hearted chapters for a little bit because guess what? This story's going to have a real plot and real reason behind all that happens! Yay! **:applause sign flashes:** So enjoy it while you can; it's not to last much longer.

_**Please read the following note!**_

Okay, it seems like there was some confusion with this, so I'll make this clear so no one else gets confused.

In Japanese schools, teachers typically address their students by their family name with the suffix '-kun' on the end of it. (I think it's the same with girls, but I'm not sure.) So when Sasuke calls Naruto 'Uzumaki-kun' it's not the same affectionate term as when Sakura calls him 'Sasuke-kun'. By using '-kun' Sasuke is basically just stating his authority over him as his elder and his mentor. It's not a Sasuke-ego thing, it's more of a required-from-all-teachers thing.

_Once again, this is them speaking English._

**Setting: **Shibuya, Yoyogi Uehara, and a Japanese Private School located near Shibuya.

**Ages:** Students are 16-17. Sasuke is 24, and Kakashi&Co are 24-26.

**Summary:** Uzumaki Naruto is a terrible student in school who has a special talent--he can seduce just about any male. When his newest male teacher demands perfection from everyone, what is he to do? Put that talent to use, of course! NaruSasuNaru, AU.

* * *

**Seduction**

**Lesson Five**

* * *

**DAYS LEFT UNTIL THE EXAM: 3.**

"Hey, Kiba," Naruto asked his friend casually. After his little encounter with the Uchiha that morning, the stoic man had disappeared into the teacher's room. Apparently that was Sasuke's 'hangout', as Kakashi had put it when he entered the room looking for Sasuke much earlier. He had still been the only one in the classroom then.

The silver-haired man took one look at Naruto, who was scowling at his assignment book, and burst into uncontrollable laughter. His eyes started watering as he doubled over in laughter, clutching his stomach. The blond decided to settle with glaring at the teacher since he had no clue why he was laughing and he knew asking would get him nowhere. Once the man had settled down, he started moaning about needing a nap and left the room.

Sakura had also come early, about ten minutes before the other students began arriving. She was perfectly groomed with four dark red and grey barrettes criss-crossing in her hair to hold her bangs back, matching her uniform. She had on a subtle glimmer eye shadow, probably that Puff Pink color she'd been raving about for days to everyone that came within ten meters of her. Her lips were coated in a pink candy gloss that just radiated sexiness and her cheeks were dusted slightly with a light blush. Her face was rather timid and sweet when she entered the room, forming a greeting for their teacher on her lips, but stopped as she didn't see him where he usually was.

As she caught Naruto's eye she scowled deeply, the timidity disappearing faster than food in front of Chouji. "What did you do," She had hissed out angrily, "with my beloved Uchiha-sensei?"

Naruto had replied with a grumbled, "Good morning to you too, Sakura-chan," before ignoring her question. Really. He loved the girl to death, but hell. Women and their crushes.

And her crush was so painfully impossible, since Sasuke didn't swing that way and had the hots for him anyways.

"What's up, blondie?" Kiba looked over from poking a sleeping Shikamaru to the source of the voice.

"How hard do you think it would be for me to get after school detention?"

Kiba scoffed, a mocking smirk showing off his overly sharp canines. "You? Just go bother Uchiha-sensei for a little bit, I'm sure he'd give it to you. Then again, it'd be worse for him since he'd have to stay after with you."

Naruto unbuttoned the top button on his shirt, sighing heavily. He closed his eyes and whined, "But what's a sure way to get after school? There can't be any chance of it failing. I don't want some stupid other punishment, like taking over all cleaning duties or something."

Kiba tapped his chin thoughtfully, his eyes rising to the ceiling before falling back onto Naruto. "How many assignments have you missed?"

The blond winced, scrunching up his face and recoiling from the brunette. "Ouch, Kiba. That's a touchy subject. The number is frighteningly high."

"Just tell me," He replied, rolling his eyes, but he was smiling. The number probably was ridiculous, like twelve or fifteen--

"I've missed twenty-six."

"Twenty-six?!" Kiba exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. His eyes became wide like saucers as he stared in astonishment at his friend. Even he hadn't done that bad, and he usually was either the same or worse than Naruto. "Have we even been in school that long?!"

"No." The blond leaned back in his chair, smiling proudly as he folded his hands behind his head. "I told you it was frighteningly high."

"I don't even want to _know _how that number got that high," The brunette replied, sighing heavily and rubbing his temples. He gave Naruto an exasperated look. "You did your homework today, didn't you?

The blond nodded triumphantly, a smile spread across his face. "Yeah, for the fir--"

"Yeah, well, it was a waste."

"Waste?!" Naruto repeated, his voice rising and his face twisting in anger as he rose out of his seat. "Why? I spent four hours on that for nothing?!"

"Sit down, dumbfuck," Kiba said rather off-handedly, waving a hand at his friend. "If you want this to work, you can't hand in your assignment."

"But, but," Naruto whined, sitting down slowly, "I worked so hard on that!"

"Look," Kiba began, staring pointedly at Naruto, "You of all people should know there's a school rule that after missing a certain number of assignments--I think it's five--you're supposed to have after-school detention until you make up the work you missed. We had it pretty often last year, remember? Since you're slow, and you can only stay at the school until six before they kick you out anyways, you'll have to spend plenty of time there to finish however many assignments he makes you complete."

"Okay, I get how that works in my favor," Naruto said, giving Kiba a wary look as he leaned back, "But how will you get it to assign it to me? He's not going to listen to you, Kiba, he could kick your ass and he knows it."

"For your sake, I'll ignore that comment," The brunette replied, grimacing. "It's simple. Of course Uchiha-sensei wouldn't listen to me, but you can tell he's an uptight prick who has to follow rules. As soon as I mention it's a school rule, he won't be able to ignore it. I would think you'd be able to figure that out yourself. Man, you really are as stupid as you look..."

"Shut up," Naruto mumbled huffily, glowering at his friend, "It wasn't even that obvious."

"Yeah, it most definitely was."

"Shut up."

* * *

When Sasuke re-entered his classroom that day, he was still rather irritated.

That blond kid was on his last nerve.

Where in the hell did he think he got off inquiring about Sasuke's sexuality?! That was none of his business! He barely even knew the kid! And then he goes off and accuses Sasuke of being gay?! How dare he! He did too like wo...men...

...yeah...

That wasn't the point! The point was that Naruto was being overly familiar with him to the point of it being insulting! Where did he get off calling Sasuke by his given name, anyways? Next thing he knew that moron would start calling him Sasu-chan or some dumb shit like that. He would kick the kid's ass again if he ever did that!

Sasuke growled softly, trying to burn the paper before him with his eyes, and became all too aware of the eyes that widened and the jaws that slacked at such a blatant display of anger with a hint of frustration. Well, screw being a damn Uchiha right now! He was fucking pissed!

Then again, marring the Uchiha name would get him killed.

Ugh. He couldn't concentrate like this.

"Haruno-kun," Sasuke said, turning his gaze to the girl. The class president brightened immediately, shoving the girl next to her away, and gave Sasuke her most charming smile.

"Yes, Uchiha-sensei?"

He inwardly cringed at this, knowing of her all too obvious crush. He'd heard her talk before and he'd reviewed her homework assignments, and she seemed like such an intelligent person. He could understand why she had been voted as class president, seeing as she was smart, organized, and reliable. But as soon as she spoke to him, no word could come out of her mouth without it being coated in syrup, and everything he said to her was followed by a giggle from her, as if he were funny.

Nothing he ever said was meant to be funny. Ever.

She bowed so low every time she saw him, her nose practically touching the floor. You would think she was bowing to Yasuo Fukuda rather than her teacher. Besides, someone as smart as her should be able to take the glaringly obvious hint that he was not interested in her. She was _far_ from his type. (1)

Whatever that was.

"Take roll." Sakura's expression dimmed slightly at his cold command, but she perked up again and nodded, smiling. "Yes!"

She bounced out of her seat, her grey skirt swishing as she giggled cheerily. Sasuke took two steps backward out of her way, the attendance book already sitting on the podium, but somehow she still managed to brush against him before going forward. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the blackboard as she began reading off the names in a voice that radiated authority. She would make a good teacher if she didn't get so distracted by her frivolous crushes.

Sasuke went over the lesson plans for the day in his mind; math classes were to be taught first today. It was rather amusing, actually. Normally the students would have a different teacher for just about every class, the teachers rotating from room to room, but because he was so skilled at English, Japanese cultures, Calligraphy, Mathematics, almost every subject, he taught almost every subject. His paycheck was rather high, fit for an Uchiha, since he was paid separately for each subject he taught.

But still, he could think of plenty other things he'd rather be doing than teaching a bunch of hormone-driven teenagers.

"Sensei?"

Sasuke snapped back to reality to see Sakura staring at him, smiling brightly with his attendance book held out to him. She bowed humbly and chirped, "I've finished, sensei! Thank you for allowing me to take roll today!"

"Hn." He took the book from her hands with hostility, glaring at her. "You can take your seat now, Haruno-kun."

"Y-yes..." She faltered, her smile wavering at his demeanor. Oh, whatever. That blond really pissed him off today.

Because really, where did he go off inquiring about—

"Ne, ne, sensei! Aren't we doing math first today?" Naruto waved his hand about in the air, grinning mischievously. Sasuke resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands and sigh.

"_Yes_, we are." The Uchiha approached the podium and placed the attendance book neatly on the shelf under it, taking out the grading book for the math classes. "As I call your name, bring your assignment book and place it on the podium. Aburame-kun."

The silent teen walked to the front, his blazer collar turned upward and buttoned, covering the bottom half of his face as best as it could. He wore round, dark sunglasses, even when inside, and regardless of how warm it got, he kept his jacket on.

Weird ass. No wonder he was friends with Naruto.

Oh, god...he would just have to accept the fact that he could not refrain from mentally addressing the blond by his given name.

The raven watched silently as each student came to the front of the room, setting their books down, excluding Nara. Lazy ass. Sasuke knew the kid had his homework done, since class work was about as hard as lifting a finger for that kid, but walking to the front of the room—regardless of the fact it was about four steps away from his desk—took way too much effort for the teen.

Naruto had some interesting friends. Weird ass, lazy ass, loud ass—that brunette with canines like a dog—and fat ass. How someone could eat all those potato chips and just where the hell they came from was beyond Sasuke. As long as he continued eating them silently (wonder how long it took to perfect that talent) Sasuke could care less.

"Uzumaki-kun."

"Ehe...he..." Sasuke watched in mild annoyance as the blond looked up sheepishly at him, scratching the back of his head rather nervously. "Well...I don't quite...have it..."

"I thought you said you had it done," Sasuke growled, his eyes narrowing, "and that you only needed help with a few problems."

"No, I said I needed help with a few _things_," Naruto replied, smiling shamefacedly. "Without understanding those few things, I couldn't do the homework at all. It's your fault. I asked for help."

"My fault?" The raven repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I believe you are mistaken. I've already told you, it's not my job to tutor you. Hire your own tutor if you need help that badly."

"Sensei!" Kiba waved his hand around frantically, staring wide-eyed at Sasuke like an eager dog. He resisted the urge to groan and go shove his fist down the brunette's throat; he hated all of them, he really did.

"What," The Uchiha growled, staring death at Kiba and gripping the pen in his hand tightly, "do you want?"

"Naruto's missed, like, fifty million homework assignments."

"Yes, Inuzuka-kun, he has. I'm glad you're so observant." The room filled with snickers as Kiba blushed slightly, his face scrunching up slightly.

"It's a school rule that after a student misses five assignments, they have to be placed in after school detention until they make up at least three of the assignments."

"Kiba," Naruto hissed, scowling at his friend, "shut up."

"So, it's pretty unfair that he doesn't have any detentions."

"Kiba!" The blond repeated, clenching the sides of his desk tightly as he attempted to refrain from hitting his friend. Sasuke stared coolly at Kiba, his mind racing at a million kilometers a minute. Damn it! He couldn't just ignore the school rule, if one of the parents came to the school board with a complaint, it would reflect badly on the Uchiha name.

But staying for probably the rest of the semester until six...damn it! There was no way out of this, but Itachi...he didn't even want think of his brother's reaction.

"Uzumaki-kun," Sasuke said, deeply wishing he could get out of this somehow, but there was no way.

"Wait!" Naruto jumped out of his seat, holding his arm out with a panicked look on his face. He stood and bowed, muttering an embarrassed, "Please wait, sensei."

A dark eyebrow rose in questioning as he snapped, "What?"

"May I please speak to you for a moment?"

Sasuke waved a hand in front of him as the blond looked up at him. He faltered in his speech for a moment as sapphire eyes locked with his own, entrancing him. His eyes were so bright...

"You're speaking to me at the moment, are you not?" Snickers flooded the room once again; really, some of these people laughed at his every word.

Naruto grit his teeth in annoyance, forcing out a polite, "May I please speak to you in the hallway?"

The Uchiha stared at the boy, willing himself to remain unfazed by the powerful eyes staring back at him. What was wrong with him? With both of them?! It shouldn't be humanly possible to have eyes as beautiful and vivid as the ocean, with a strength behind them like crashing waves--augh! If he weren't an Uchiha, he would rip his hair out and scream right about now!

Oh, how he wanted so _badly _to carve those eyes out of Naruto's head.

"Fine." Sasuke turned and began to walk towards the doorway, Naruto following in silence. The room was rather tense as sixteen pairs of eyes trailed after them, stiff and sympathetic. He vaguely wondered just who the sympathy was for, but then let it go.

Hell, they probably both needed it.

* * *

Naruto held back a triumphant grin as he followed Sasuke out of the silent classroom, into the hall. Oh, he was fucking brilliant. Here he had just opened himself a (albeit small) window of time to hit on Sasuke and then still have his detention with the Uchiha. Like hell this guy wouldn't fall for him! He was Uzumaki fucking Naruto, he could seduce anyone!

...Even if that someone acted frighteningly similar to a wall!

The hallway was empty, the morning light flowing in the large, rectangular windows on the opposite wall. The muffled sound of voices filled the hallway along with a flickering light--that would probably be fixed by the afternoon; the school couldn't stand to look imperfect. It had to make up for students like Kiba and himself somehow, didn't it?

Naruto slid the door closed behind him as Sasuke leaned against the empty space of wall between two of the classrooms, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the blond with piercing black eyes. A few strands of hair danced on his forehead from the breeze coming in the open windows, standing out against his light skin. Naruto noticed the bandages wrapped around the raven's knuckles once again and frowned slightly; how in the hell were his knuckles always injured?

"Hey, sensei?" Naruto asked softly, his hand still lingering on the door and his eyes glued onto Sasuke's knuckles.

"What?"

"Why are your knuckles always bandaged up?" The question left Naruto's mouth before he even realized it. Sasuke's hand tucked deeper into his arms in a reflexive attempt to shield them from view, and Naruto looked up to see the Uchiha scowling at him.

"It's none of your business," He spat venomously, his eyes narrowed. Naruto moved from the view of the class door's window and stood in front of Sasuke, frowning.

"Well, every single day you come to school with bandages on them. What, are you a part of a Shibuya gang and you're constantly fighting or something secretive like that? I'm just worried."

"Don't be." His response was short and laced in poison. "I don't need your worries."

"Che," Naruto replied, scowling. "Bastard."

"What did you want? It had better not of been just for that."

"You know, I don't think you should give me that detention." A malicious smile spread across the blond's face as he captured Sasuke's gaze. "You really shouldn't."

"And why shouldn't I? You've failed to turn in your assignments numerous times, not to mention you are disrupting in my class, so your disorderly conduct can no longer be ignored."

The blond chuckled lightly, raising an eyebrow at the raven in front of him. "Disorderly conduct? What, are you filing a police report now? Look, I'm just doing this for you."

"For me." Sasuke stared disbelievingly at Naruto as he repeated the two words, shifting slightly as if trying to hide his interest in the blond's next words. "You're doing this for me. How so?"

"Look, I know you don't like me because of what happened earlier in the yea--"

"I said at the beginning of the school year that I would hate each and every one of you. Don't think you're lucky enough to be hated any more than any of the other students just because of a little conflict at the beginning of the year." The Uchiha's words were cold and serious, provoking a disapproving expression onto Naruto's face for a moment.

"Lucky? Oh, yes," He replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "just because it would be an _honor_ to be hated by you."

Sasuke smirked lightly, a daring spark flaring in his eyes. "I get the impression that you would be honored to have extra attention from me, Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto began to retort, but the reply died soundlessly on his lips as Sasuke's words registered in his mind. Was Sasuke...flirting with him? That smirk he gave him, that so sexy (yet so irritating) smirk, did it mean Sasuke was flirting with him?

_Oh_, Naruto laughed mentally, _this is grand. This is just awesome._

"Maybe I would," He replied, stepping closer to Sasuke. He stared into his eyes unwaveringly, somewhat mesmerized. Well, if the Uchiha wanted to flirt, he would flirt right back. "And maybe I wouldn't. Extra hate isn't the extra attention I'd want."

"Oh?" Sasuke's eyebrow rose in question, his eye contact never wavering. "And what would that attention be?"

"I want for you," Naruto drawled, stepping in closer, "to call me Naruto."

The Uchiha paused for a moment, his stare unreadable, and then widened his smirk. "Naruto?"

Naruto's breath caught in his throat as his name came from Sasuke's lips in a breathy, sultry tone. Damn it, did he have to say his name like _that_? It was making him go weak in the knees. "Y-yeah," He stammered, "My given name is...uh..."

"Naruto."

"Yeah, that's it."

"Hm...Naruto..." Sasuke said the name repeatedly, as if actually considering it, before he dropped the smirk and said flatly, "No."

"Eh?" The blond replied in shock, upset that he'd been turned down (though he knew it was to be expected, but still!) The way Sasuke said his voice was absolutely beautiful and he would do just about anything to hear it again. "Why not?"

"I won't address a student so familiarly. Now, if that is all, I would like to get back to my class." Sasuke began to turn away, but was stop by Naruto's hands against the wall on both sides of him. He turned and glared icily at Naruto, growling, "Move."

"Mm, but Sasuke," Naruto whined, thankful for the fact he was just as tall as Sasuke (or maybe just about an inch shorter, but, whatever.) "Your voice is just so...intoxicating. I want to hear my name come off your lips again."

"Uzumaki-kun--" Sasuke began, but stopped as Naruto let out a small, breathy moan near his ear. Oh, Naruto was _so _good at acting. Though right now might not be the best time to assess his acting skills, seeing as he most of this was sort of real, but only sort of. He was only sort of getting turned on by Sasuke saying his name and imagining all the ways he could get the raven to scream his name and--

"What are you doing?" Sasuke demanded flatly, his voice undaunted, but Naruto bet that if he had moved back slightly, he would've seen the most delicious blush dusted over his teacher's pale cheeks. He moved in closer, their chests touching lightly, and he continued to speak in whispers by Sasuke's ear.

"What am I doing?" He repeated, wishing so badly to drag his tongue along the edge of Sasuke's ear. God, teacher or no, that voice just made him want to do so many things with the older man. "I'm holding myself back from ravishing you, Sasuke."

"I am not going to tell you again, Uzumaki-kun. Move."

"It's that voice, you know." The blond moved closer, placing one leg between the Uchiha's, an uncharacteristic predatory smirk spreading across his face. "Everything you say just screams of sex. It's almost enough to get me excited."

"If only I cared. Now move." Naruto brushed his lips against the skin behind Sasuke's ear and noticed, with much glee, that this action caused the man to stiffen. He wondered if the sudden stiffness was from being touched or if that was a sensitive spot.

"Your voice screams of dominance, you know," Naruto said with a small chuckle, smiling against the raven's skin. "This kind of position probably bothers you, doesn't it? I've stolen your dominance. You're being pinned to the wall by another man, a younger man, and your studen--"

In a flash, Sasuke's arms came up from his sides and pushed the blond's arms away, following up with a smooth motion of grabbing Naruto's shoulders. He flipped them around and slammed Naruto's back against the wall, his hands on either sides of Naruto's head, his leg between the blond's legs. His dark eyes, sharp like a blade, stared into Naruto's eyes as he glared.

He slowly moved closer until his mouth was by Naruto's ear, breathing evenly. The small action caused the hairs on the back of Naruto's neck to stand and goose bumps to form and wanted to badly to put his arms around the raven's neck and beg the older man to let him do him, or the beg him to screw him, whatever, he just wanted something! How was it his mind was running on lust like this? It wasn't normal for him, but he just couldn't help it!

"Naruto," Sasuke breathed, and Naruto's eyes slid closed, his breathing increasing. Oh, god, that voice was saying his name again, and this time he was actually addressing him by it. His breath felt so warm on his neck, setting it afire, causing it to screaming for Sasuke's lips on it, and so he kept subconsciously tilting his head to beckon the man.

"Wh, what...sensei?"

"Don't think," He began, his voice dropping, "Even for a moment, that you could ever dominate over me."

"Hah...bastard," Naruto replied breathlessly, his eyes still closed. If his thoughts weren't so muddled by how appropriately inappropriate sex in the middle of a high school hallway during the school day was, he probably would've argued with him.

"Hn."

Blue eyes snapped open as the warmth from Sasuke's mouth disappeared along with the feeling of the older man's chest upon his own. He stared at the raven silently, save for his erratic breathing, his eyes following the man as he straightened his clothes out and then walked back into his classroom.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair and sighed, sliding down the wall into a sitting position. This had never happened to him before. Sure, he'd been overcome by lust for someone before, but never had it been like this. It got the point he couldn't even think straight. The hell?

How was he supposed to seduce the man if he couldn't even think straight enough to carry anything out?

Heaving another sigh, Naruto stood up and began to shuffle down the hallway before slowly grinning, his eyes brightening.

Sasuke had just addressed him as Naruto, hadn't he?

Oh, he was most _definitely _going to get this guy.

* * *

"Bye Kiba! Bye Sakura-chan! Say hi to Gaara for me!"

Naruto waved cheerily from the third floor window to his friends, a bright smile on his face. They waved back from the gates, and the blond watched with slight sadness as his friends fooled around without him. Well, actually, Shikamaru was just standing there, leaning against the school wall lazily, Chouji was eating chips, Shino was talking to something on his finger—probably an insect, Hinata was smiling shyly up at him, and Ino, Sakura, and Kiba were the ones fooling around. It was normal.

He just didn't like being left out of this normality they'd adopted.

"He's going to kill you, you know!" Kiba yelled back, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand. "You're skipping out on him again; he's going to kill you!" Naruto laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Give him my condolences!"

"I don't think he used that in the right context," Ino said to Sakura, who shrugged and then turned back to Naruto with a scowl on her face.

"Don't you dare irritate Uchiha-sensei, Naruto!" She pointed up at him rudely, though he knew that she wasn't nearly as hostile as she was pretending to be. "And don't you touch him either!"

Naruto threw his head back and laughed arrogantly, his hands on his hips. "I'll have a hard time keeping _him _off of _me_!" He wrapped his arms around himself and took a dreamy look on his face, other students stopping to look at him strangely or point and laugh. "Oh, Uchiha-sensei, this is so wrong! You're my teacher!"

He let out a low, throaty moan, leaning his head back and squeezing his eyes shut, inwardly snickering at Sakura's yells of, "Stop daydreaming about what you know you'll never have, dumbass! Hey!"

Suddenly Sakura's shouts died abruptly, causing Naruto to open an eye to look at her. He opened both eyes to see better and leaned slightly out of the window, noticing her sweet, love struck face and Kiba's irritated, I-just-worked-my-ass-off-because-of-you face. Shit.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Naruto," Ino yelled up, grabbing Sakura's forearm and dragging her off with the rest of the group. Kiba gave Naruto a small salute in a farewell, and Hinata waved shyly. "Bye!"

Well, fuck.

Just like in the movies, that bastard was probably standing right behind him.

"Uzumaki-kun."

Yep, just like the movies. Life could be so cliché sometimes.

"Sasuke!" He exclaimed with a forced smile on his face, whirling around to face the man and pushing out a strained laugh. "Hey, man, what's up?"

He stared at Naruto in silence, eyes narrowed and face set in a suspicious stare. His hands were in his pockets, causing his stance to look rather uncaring, but his sharp voice said otherwise.

"Just what, exactly, were you doing in the window?"

"Eh..." Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, his shoulders bouncing as he laughed. Why was he so embarrassed? Sasuke already knew he was attracted to him; he'd practically molested the older man in the hallway. Still...something about this felt awkward. "I was...uh...practicing!"

"Practicing." The Uchiha's voice was flat and unbelieving as he continued to stare at Naruto. Damn it, that stare was freaking him out! Couldn't he stare out the window or something? ...Wait, he was standing in front of the window, so he'd be blocking the Uchiha's view anyways. "Practicing for what?"

Aw, crap. Who went and named this bastard the new Nancy Drew? (2)

"A, er, a play! What else?"

"And this play is for...?" Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and stared evenly at Naruto, making the blond's eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Why was he being so nosy, anyways?

"That doesn't concern you," Naruto replied stubbornly, mirroring Sasuke's pose by crossing his arms over his own chest.

"I would think that a play that made references to myself," He replied calmly, his expression taking on amusement, "would concern me somewhat."

"Yeah, well," He sputtered, racking his mind for some kind of excuse, "m-maybe I'm talking about another Uchiha!"

"What other Uchiha do you know?"

"You have a brother, don't you?"

All previous amusement fell off of Sasuke's face, his eyes losing the hint of warmth they had just moments ago. His body tensed up, as if he was desperately holding in the urge to throw a punch in Naruto's face, and he abruptly turned away from the teen.

"Start your assignments."

He silently walked into the classroom, leaving Naruto completely bewildered. He stared at the spot Sasuke had been moments again in confusion, wondering just what he could've done wrong. All he'd done was mentioning his brot—oh.

Sasuke problem could be one of three things:

1) He had a really bad brother complex and got really jealous whenever someone even mentioned his brother.

2) He had an inferiority complex that he was reminded of whenever someone mentioned his brother.

3) He hated his brother really, really bad.

Naruto highly doubted it was the first one, simply because...okay, it was more like he was praying it wasn't the first one. They didn't seem on the greatest terms, though the older Uchiha—Itachi, was it?—had gone to Sasuke's house the one time he was there. And it was late at night...God, no! They couldn't be having hot sex in which Sasuke looks up at Itachi shyly and whimpers 'aniki' which makes Itachi smirk evilly and tie the younger Uchiha up and threaten to do—

"What's with the face?" Sasuke voice thankfully knocked Naruto out of his thoughts, his expression slightly disgusted—probably as disgusted at he could look. "You look like you saw a ghost."

"I saw worse!" Naruto exclaimed, gripping Sasuke by his shoulders and staring at him wide-eyed. "I saw mmph!"

Sasuke's hand covered Naruto's mouth as he shook his head, the disgusted look deepening. "I don't want to know."

He pried the blond's hands off of his shoulders and began to walk away, muttering, "Idiot."

Naruto glared at his retreating figure, muttering, "Bastard," under his breath and walked into the classroom. Uchiha had probably gone to the teacher's room. Ever since Kakashi-sensei pointed that out, he realized that Sasuke was down there a lot. Like, more than a person should be.

Ah, well, there was nothing better to do. He had might as well get started on those homework assignments.

* * *

**(1)** Yasuo Fukuda is the Prime Minister of Japan.

**(2)** In case you don't know, Nancy Drew is a detective.

I don't think I like this chapter. D:

Seriously, I don't think I do. It's kind of sketchy. I'm not sure though, blaaargh. I'm doing my best with these chapters, it's just that I do have a life—and a hectic one at that. And I know you're thinking, "Well, it should be simple since they're just reposts," but they have to be reposts I'm _happy_ with. That takes my full concentration and want, I don't always have that, so…yeah.

Next chapter is your last light-hearted chapter for a little bit. Enjoy it while you caaan **:daunting music plays:**

Anyways, please remember to review! Thanks!


	6. Lesson 6

**Disclaimer:** I wish I had some witty way to say I don't own Naruto.

**Author's Note:** **PLEASE READ THIS.**

EDIT:

Thanks to an anonymous reviewer I corrected the dialect Naruto was using. Thank you!

So I have some important things to say, one of which will reassure people and the other of which might make me lose some readers. But I thought long and hard about it, talked to Aznara, and made a decision. So if this news upsets you, I'm sorry, but it's final.

First of all, **this is not going to be an angst-everybody-dies-or-gets-raped kind of thing.** Apparently I overstressed the whole not so light-hearted thing to the point where people pretty much feared that. What I was meaning to say is that while these chapters have all been rather humorous and their cat-and-mouse chase, the next chapter is where more of the plot comes into view. Things happen that will lead up to the relationship of Naruto and Sasuke. I didn't mean to make it sound so angsty, ahaha. Forgive me.

Second of all, **I am changing this fanfic from a SasuNaruSasu to a NaruSasuNaru.** Why? Because to keep my characters true to whom they are it's really the only thing that makes sense. I mean, they're still going to be switching it up and crap but it'll predominantly be NaruSasu. I would have to change Sasuke personality quite the bit to make his 'dominance' in the relationship realistic, but keep in mind I'm keeping everyone true to who they are the best I can. There will be no weepy, girly Sasuke just as there will be no weepy, girly Naruto. But yeah.

I don't like this chapter so I hope you guys do. Thank you for all the reviews, I didn't get the opportunity to reply this time to most but next time I promise I will! Thank you so much, the feedback keeps me going!

**Summary:** Uzumaki Naruto is a terrible student in school who has a special talent--he can seduce just about any male. When his newest male teacher demands perfection from everyone, what is he to do? Put that talent to use, of course! NaruSasuNaru, AU.

* * *

**Seduction**

**Lesson Six**

* * *

**DAYS LEFT UNTIL EXAM: 3**

Naruto glared down at his paper, hard. His pencil scratched across the paper, writing down numbers, before flipping the pencil around and violently dragging his eraser across the paper. Damn.

He really hated math.

In twenty minutes, he'd completed a total of zero problems. All his paper contained were eraser marks and his name written in sloppy characters. The problems daunted him, the directions were so vague it was ridiculous, and his eyes were beginning to hurt. He really needed to take a break.

Ah, how he wished he were with his friends in Shibuya. Ever since they'd all met in their first year of junior high, they'd been doing everything together. It started out as him, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, and Chouji, and then they'd met Ino, who introduced them to Sakura and Hinata. Sakura had hated his guts when they'd first met, but it didn't even matter. It was so obvious that somehow, some way, they would all be inseparable friends for a long, long time.

Naruto's head snapped up at the sound of the classroom door sliding open, Sasuke standing in the doorway. He was wearing a grey t-shirt with his slacks instead of his suit, and Naruto raised an eyebrow questioningly. Not that he didn't like the change--seeing Sasuke in everyday clothes made him feel less out of reach. He felt like Sasuke was a real person; he could almost imagine them going to school together, in the same class, hating each other with everything in them.

He mentally chuckled at the thought. Yeah, if Sasuke was his classmate, he knew he would hate the man.

"What're you staring at, moron?"

Naruto's eye twitched. Forget being his classmate; he hated Sasuke anyways!

"Hah! Like you're anything to stare at!"

An amused smirk spread across Sasuke's face as he crossed his arms over his chest, leaning on the door behind him. "Is that so?"

"Of course. Don't think just because every female chases you around you're anything special."

"That wasn't what you thought of me earlier in the day, now was it?" His smirk widened as Naruto cringed, remembering the way he'd hit on his teacher earlier in the day. Why did everything have to come back and bite him in the butt?

"Yeah, well," The blond replied huffily, making a face, "Your shitty personality cancels out whatever physical appearance you might have."

"Oh, really," The raven replied, his smirk widened even further. "Well then, do me a favor. Next time you even think about touching me, remember my shitty personality."

Heat spread across Naruto's face though he desperately tried to keep it down. He would not blush in front of Sasuke! "Whatever. You know you liked it."

The smirk fell off of Sasuke's face in an instant. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, yeah," The blond replied slowly, nodding his head. He stood slowly, a self-satisfied smirk planting itself on his face as he laughed mockingly. "Now I've got you wishing I'd touch you again, don't I?" He ran a hand through his hair, giving Sasuke a seductive look. "Don't lie. You know you want this."

Sasuke stared in silence before letting a ghost of a smile onto his face. "Right. Just because I'd like a little kid."

"Little kid!" Naruto exploded, slamming his hand down on the desk angrily. "Listen, bastard, let me...huh?"

His eyes must be deceiving him.

His ears must be deceiving him.

Because there was no way that Uchiha Sasuke, the stone-faced Uchiha Sasuke, was smiling and visibly holding back laughter because of him.

The Uchiha turned and slid the door open, shaking his head and mumbling about god-knows-what before exiting and leaving Naruto to stare at the now unoccupied space in front of the door. Had he just...did Sasuke just smile?

The hell?

Maybe...it would be easier to seduce him this way? As himself?

No, Naruto thought, furrowing his eyebrows and shaking his head. He began to nibble at his fingernails, staring focused on the group below him. _I can't do that. It'd be too much of a lie._ He laughed bitterly at that statement and smiled to himself. A lie? Seducing anyone for a reason like your grades was already too much of a lie, wasn't it?

But he had to. No, he needed to. He couldn't...

Naruto let out a frustrated cry, gripping his hair in his hands. This was too much thinking for him!

He needed to go and cool off.

* * *

Today had officially made up Sasuke's mind about something.

He absolutely loathed doing detentions.

Why the hell did the blond's friend even have to bring up that stupid school rule? If it weren't the fact it would've given him a terrible migraine and probably would have resulted in murder to place Naruto and Inuzuka in the same room, he would've put the idiot in here as well.

Sasuke sighed to himself, sitting alone in the teachers' room. It was actually slightly strange that the rest of the teachers had left the school so early, mere minutes after the students, but whatever. The last thing he needed was Kakashi and Genma asking him why he wouldn't bone his student if they came onto him and Naruto constantly bothering him about...well, everything.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and slid it up, pressing in the numbers to unlock it. The screen lit up as he pressed the numbers, revealing a message of two missed calls and four text messages. God, even in Nagasaki he still pestered him relentlessly.

He sent his brother a short message telling him what was going on, his fingers moving swiftly from number to number. It was a shame, really, that he'd become so fast at texting people when the only person he talked to was Itachi, and even that was rare.

He sighed heavily again, closing his eyes and leaning back in his office chair, the chair letting out a soft squeak. All he wanted to do was go home, do a little work on his laptop, and then sleep. God, that word was starting to sound much too foreign to him.

Well, since Naruto was working in the classroom, he could rest his head on his desk and sleep for just a few minutes.

Just...a few...

* * *

Naruto sighed softly as he, once again, brushed a loose bang out of Sasuke's sleeping face and watched as it fell back down. Why was he still doing this?

He'd come down to the teachers' room about ten minutes ago, planning to ask the Uchiha something and then flirt with him some more, but when he entered the older man had been sleeping. He'd made a makeshift pillow with his arms on his desk, and was sleeping peacefully. His face was so much softer when he was sleeping, and he noticed (all the while trying to desperately restrain his laughter) that Sasuke drooled.

He'd been planning to wake him up, but then he sat down next to him and noticed the bangs in his face. Without even really knowing what he was doing his hand brushed them out of Sasuke's face, and a content sigh had escaped the sleeping man's lips.

It was then that he realized, really realized, that Sasuke was beautiful. He wasn't just hot and he wasn't just fuckable. No, he was also beautiful. His appearance deserved a word a lot more soft and gentle like beautiful. Naruto came to this realization rather spitefully, though, as he realized with it that all this beauty was wasted on such a bastard. A smile would look so much nicer on his face rather than his expressionless mask or occasional scowl.

And his eyes, they would look so much nicer if there could at least be a flicker of warmth in them. The way his eyes brightened when he was amused, when he had that mocking smirk on his face, it was so much nicer than the cold, lifeless eyes that stared at people otherwise. Though he really should get happy over things other than making fun of people, but...it didn't really matter.

Naruto sighed again laid his head on desk, staring at Sasuke. How a person could look so innocent one second and then be completely bastard-y the next was way beyond him.

His hand stretched out to brush Sasuke's bangs out of his face once again when he noticed a small black box sitting on the man's lap. He lifted his head slightly to get a better look at it and decided it was most likely a cell phone. Satisfied with this answer, he put his head back down before he was struck with a wonderful idea.

Why in the hell should he just sit here staring at Sasuke during his detention? The school was probably empty by now, and there was no way he wasn't going to take advantage of that fact or the Uchiha. He was going to waste this detention away, because when Sasuke woke up and realized how much work he had done, he was going to sit there and watch him finish the rest of his work without helping him, the sadistic bastard.

Grinning rather maniacally, Naruto grabbed a pen from the desk he was seated and scribbled a note down on a sticky note. He placed it on the raven's forehead, his smile dimming for a moment as he was smacked in the face with how beautiful the Uchiha really was, before it grew right back and he snatched the small phone off of his lap.

He crept towards the door, hoping not to wake Sasuke, and kept his eyes focused for any signs of waking up. Satisfied, he turned and slammed loudly right into the door he could've sworn he'd left open, fell backwards and hit into a garbage can. Aluminum cans bounced against the floor and Naruto cringed, cursing his luck. He stared wide-eyed and unmoving at his teacher, waiting for the man to wake up, but after five minutes of just sitting there and staring, he came to the conclusion that (surprisingly) he was not going to wake up.

Naruto quickly shoved the cans back into the trash and set it up right, standing up. He brushed himself off a little and then made sure to slide the door open this time in fear of the same thing happening to him again.

He smiled to himself and reveled in the feeling of sweet success as he slid the teachers' room door closed behind him. Who knew the Uchiha was a heavy sleeper? He'd expected the man to wake up the second he touched him.

Ah, whatever. He was about to go have some fun.

Naruto began jogging down the hallway, grinning from ear to ear. "I just stole the infamous Uchiha Sasuke's cell phone!" He exclaimed to the empty hallways. "Hah! There's no beating tha--"

The words were knocked out of his mouth as he ran into yet another metal garbage can lining the hallways, crashing to the floor along with it. He froze again and stared at the teachers' room door, expecting Sasuke to come out any second now. Surely he couldn't have slept through that also...?

After five more minutes, it was apparent.

Yeah, he slept through that too.

* * *

Naruto slowly peeled his socks off of his feet, humming a tune to himself, and shoved them inside of his school shoes. He began folding the legs of his pants up, looking at the cell phone that was contently sitting next to him. This didn't feel even close to being enough.

He should probably call someone and waste up all of Uchiha's minutes. Or no, even better, he should text Kiba and tell him he was madly in love with him. In the text he would go on and on about how he always watched him in class and how he was beautiful and a load of sappy shit like with. It'd be even better since he was with Sakura and she'd go into cardiac arrest when she read her beloved Uchiha-sensei confessing to, of all people, Kiba.

Oh, yes. Now that was brilliant. Sakura would attach herself to Sasuke like a leech, crying and asking questions like, "But whyyyyy, Uchiha-sensei?! WHY?!"

Naruto chuckled devilishly to himself and picked up the innocent phone, standing at the edge of the school pool. He slowly sat down and put his feet in the water, sighing contently at the feeling. It was so soothing.

He began moving his feet slowly in the water, basking in the feeling of the water sifting through his toes, before returning to the phone in his hands and going through the menu to find the messaging option. His fingers moved slowly and contemplatively over the buttons as he typed, unused to phones. He felt rather silly, since everyone had cell phones these days, even small kids in elementary school, but he didn't have a job and he didn't want Iruka to buy him one.

Iruka had already provided him with so much, paying the ridiculously large tuition for this private high school, housing him, feeding him, and caring for him as if he were honestly his own son.

But he couldn't depend on his guardian and his generosity forever, so Naruto only allowed Iruka to pay for the necessities. He would get a job and support himself by himself.

But it was just so damn difficult to get a job while in school. He went to go talk to the vice principal on the matter about a week before the end of last school year and he was flatly refused before he could even begin a solid argument on why he should be allowed. He was told, rather rudely, that his grades were bad enough and that having a job would only drag his grades down even more. The vice principal had practically laughed at the fact Naruto had even brought up the subject with him and shoved him out the doors with, "When you score in the top ten on the regional exams, Uzumaki-kun, I'll grant you permission to get a job."

Hah. The school system made him so mad. He'd wanted so badly to knock the vice principal's teeth down his throat, but he didn't.

And people said he didn't have self-control. Whatever, man.

It wasn't like he couldn't get a job without the school's permission, but by doing so he risked getting caught and possibly, depending on the job, being expelled. He was sure the school board would be more than happy to expel him, so he really didn't want to give them the chance, but if he had to he would.

But at the moment he didn't have to so he wouldn't.

He muttered curses under his breath as the auto word completion put in yet another incorrect word. Fuck. Maybe he wouldn't get a cell phone.

Naruto jumped a mile, nearly dropping the phone into the pool as it began to vibrate in his hands. He stared at the small box accusingly as the screen continued to light up and then return to a dark grey. He blushed lightly and looked around for anyone who may have seen him, even though he knew he was alone. Stupid cell phone! If he had dropped the phone into the pool, which just looked ridiculously expensive, Sasuke probably would've drowned him with it.

"Itachi..." He read slowly as the phone continued to vibrate. Itachi, Itachi, the name sounded so familiar. Itachi...wasn't that Sasuke's brother?

Oh, now this was rich. He knew he shouldn't. He knew it'd be wrong and probably get him into another fight, but he simply couldn't resist the temptation. He was sitting in an empty room with Sasuke's cell phone and his brother was calling. It was the PERFECT opportunity and to pass it up would simply be unthinkable.

Besides, they always say it's better to regret doing than to regret not doing.

Naruto pressed the green phone on the keypad and brought the phone up to his ear, a grin stretching from ear to ear. "Hello," He drawled out using Osaka-ben, "This is Minamura Aoi of Adult Books and Movies, how may I be of service to you?" (1)

Stiff silence followed his greeting, causing Naruto to look at the phone screen a number of times to make sure the call was still connected. Ouch. He hadn't expected a guy he'd never met before to be so rude.

"...To whom am I speaking with?" Though his words were carefully chosen to be polite, his voice betrayed it completely. "I called my brother's phone."

"No, you called--" Naruto began with the smile still on his face, but was quickly interrupted.

"To whom am I speaking with?" He was more demanding now, almost as if he were planning to reach through the phone and strangle him. What was with the Uchiha family and bastardness? He'd never even met the guy, and he was acting as if he had something shoved up his ass.

Though he probably wasn't making a good impression on Itachi by stealing his brother's phone and answering it as an adult store owner...

"I'm sorry," Naruto replied, laughing sheepishly and scratching the back of his head. "I really shouldn't have done that. My name is Uzumaki Naruto."

"Ah, the student." Itachi's voice hadn't gotten any less degrading, almost as if he completely ignored the apology.

"You know me?"

"We met once before on April 1st. You were at my brother's house."

Naruto paused for a moment before remembering, a smile spreading across his face. That's right, they had met. He remembered the flashy entrance the elder Uchiha made, speeding into the driveway in his sleek sports car and stepping out with such grace it would make a person feel like they were in the presence of royalty. Not to mention that demeaning stare he gave and his Uchiha Glare of Doom.

But like his younger brother, he was rather attractive and had a very nice, smooth voice. He'd said something to him the first time they'd met, hadn't he? What was it? It was something along the lines of, "I'm very pleased to meet you," or something like that.

_"You had better watch yourself, Uzumaki-kun."_

Oh, wait! No, it wasn't! He threatened...him...oh, shit.

The mischievous grin fell off of his face instantly as he cringed. Fuuuuuuuuuuck.

His life just sucked completely, didn't it? He had this completely strange, completely out there idea this was far from what the elder Uchiha would consider 'watching himself'. Damn the Uchihas! They all had things against him and it wasn't fair!

"Oh, yeah, now I remember meeting you. How have you been, Uchiha-san?"

"Excuse me?" His voice, though rather flat, was laced with incredulity.

"I asked how you have been."

"...You, a mere student who should have no connection to my brother outside of class, answered my brother's phone after school hours and there is no acceptable reason for you to have it in the first place. And on top of all of that, you not only bring shame upon the Uchiha name by associating with my brother, but you attempt to make meaningless small talk with me?"

"Um...yes?"

"Do you realize," Itachi began, his voice becoming chilling and threatening, "That simply by telling me your family name, I could ruin your life? Do you really think so lowly of the Uchiha name?"

"Well," Naruto replied, trying to think of a way to save himself. When he came up with nothing, he said only the truth. "I don't actually know much about the Uchihas except the fact that one is my teacher. I'm pretty sure he's the younger one. Isn't he the younger one?"

There was an incredulous silence that followed his words, and it made him uncomfortable. He started swinging his feet in the water again, hoping for the soothing feeling to return, but the silence overpowered it.

"...I see," the elder Uchiha replied finally. "The fool is always blissfully ignorant."

"Fool?" Naruto repeated, making a face, "What is with the Uchiha family and insulting me? You're all rather rude!"

There was a pause and then a light laugh and nearly made Naruto drop the phone. He was getting rather good at making Uchihas laugh, it seemed, even if this laugh sounded a lot darker than Sasuke's.

"Using ore to address yourself isn't very polite either, now is it?"

"Right. I will talk properly," Naruto replied, using watakushi instead. (2)

"There's no need to go to such an extent."

"Anyways," The blond replied, ready to get off the subject, "Can I ask you a few questions about your brother?"

"Why would I release that information?"

"Is he married?"

There was a pause, and then a slightly disgusted, "No."

"Engaged?"

"No."

"Straight?"

"Uzumaki-kun, who are you to my brother?" The elder Uchiha's voice took on a dangerous tone, as if promising sweet death if he didn't hear what he was expecting from the blond.

"Me?" He repeated, "I'm just his student."

If Itachi had replied it was easily drowned out by the sound of the metal doors flinging open and slamming against the brick wall loudly, revealing a rather pissed Uchiha. Naruto froze with the phone by his ear and stared wide-eyed at Sasuke who was holding the note he'd left crumpled in his hand.

Naruto slowly pulled the phone from his ear, grinning sheepishly at the raven. "Heh heh..."

"Naruto," He growled, giving him a death glare, "Who are you talking to on my phone?"

Well, this day just kept getting better and better, didn't it?

* * *

When Sasuke had fallen asleep in the teacher's room, he had not planned to sleep for twenty minutes. He also didn't plan to drool all over his papers or be caught sleeping by a little blond student who was obviously very eager to be drowned.

He didn't plan on getting his phone stolen by said student, nor did he plan on waking up with a sticky note attached to his forehead that said, "Just thought I'd clean your phone for you."

And if that blond actually had submerged his cell phone in water, well, let's just say Sasuke hadn't planned to commit homicide, either.

"Ah!" The blond exclaimed, pointing rudely at Sasuke in all his excitement, "You just addressed me by my given name!"

"WHO were you talking to on. MY. PHONE?" He ground out, attempting to set the boy aflame with his eyes. God, if he could only accomplish that feat, he would die happy.

Naruto stared at Sasuke with a blissfully ignorant smile on his face, saying nothing. Twenty minutes. TWENTY MINUTES spent on the phone Sasuke would have to pay for.

It was final. He was going to drown the blond.

"Ne, Sasuke, you feel like swimming? I'm up for a swim." Naruto stood and stretched as Sasuke attempted to make very calm steps towards his student. If he were talking to Itachi, then...he mentally shuddered at the thought. He would get hell when his brother came home from Nagasaki. Even though, as an Uchiha, he was born with extraordinary self-control, when it came to Itachi he had might as well be...well, Naruto. He tended to spew at the mouth a little bit.

Just a little tiny bit.

"If you swim with me I'll tell you who I was talking to," Naruto offered as he began unbuttoning his shirt. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, challenging how serious the boy actually was.

"What?" The blond asked after he noticed the look he was being given. He continued with unbuttoning his shirt, small expanses of tanned skin showing as he did. There was no way that tan could be natural. "You too good to swim or something?"

"Hn." Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes, trying to show that he had no intention of removing any clothing and swimming.

"Aw, come on, don't be a pansy," Naruto said, shrugging out of his shirt. Sasuke's eyes roved down his student's chest (not that he was checking him out or anything, it was just one of those curiosity things) which was, surprisingly, very well toned. "You don't have to strip naked; I'm going to swim in my boxers." The blond began grinning coyly, placing his hands on his hips. "I wouldn't want to embarrass you."

Sasuke couldn't help but snort in amusement at that comment, much to Naruto's delight. The grin faded into a happy smile as he asked the Uchiha, once again, to go swimming with him.

"Just give me back my phone, Uzumaki," Sasuke replied, remembering why he came down here in the first place. "You shouldn't be swimming in these pools anyways. They just cleaned them."

Naruto gave the raven an offended look, taking a step forward. "What're you trying to say?"

"I'm not surprised a moron like you can't figure it out."

"I'm not dirty!" The outburst was loud, compared to their previous volumes, and echoed off of the walls of the large pool area. "I happen to be an obsessive compulsive shower-er!"

"Shower-er." As Sasuke repeated the word he struggled to keep the laughter threatening to spill over at bay and instead opted for raising his eyebrow mockingly yet again. Naruto began to blush, as if realizing the stupidity of the word, but crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly.

"Yes, shower-er. Got a problem with it?"

"Strange. You can't seem to speak English _or _Japanese."

"Why you...!" Naruto let a breath hiss out between gritted teeth, his fists clenching tightly. "You just can't go through a conversation without insulting someone, bastard!"

"I can too." The reply sounded childish to even Sasuke after it left his lips, but there was nothing he could do about it. He instead shoved his hands into his pockets and narrowed his eyes at Naruto defensively, practically begging the gods for Naruto's idiocy to kick in and turn him deaf.

Apparently the gods themselves had gone deaf instead, because a challenging grin spread across the blond's face as he comprehended the words. And those eyes...damn it, they were sparkling so brightly. Even the terrible, faded yellow lighting in the pool room and the soft pinks flowing in from the window did nothing to dim those eyes.

Did this student ever blink? That vivid azure color stared at him unrelentingly every time he saw him.

Fuck.

"Hah!" Naruto threw his head back and laughed obnoxiously before rudely pointing his finger yet again at Sasuke. "You could never hold a conversation with me without insulting me! It's practically coded into your DNA!"

"I'm surprised you even know what DNA is."

"See?" The blond chose to ignore the insult, grinning smugly at the raven. "You can't do it."

"Hn." Pride taking over, he haughtily stuck his nose in the air before replying, "It'd be easy. Unlike you, moron, I can control myself in any situation."

"You insulted me then, too," The blond pointed out, and Sasuke smirked.

"No, I was telling the truth."

Naruto glared.

"But," The raven continued, "I can hold a conversation with you and refrain from using truths that would offend you."

"Asshole," Naruto growled competitively. "You're on!"

"Fine."

"Fine!"

Naruto stared angrily at the Uchiha as Sasuke thought of how easy it would be to win if they didn't talk.

Or would it be impossible? Since technically you couldn't hold a conversation without words...or could you? With sign language you can hold conversations with your hands. And don't novels always contain people holding conversations with their eyes?

Hm. He'd have to think that one over.

"So..." Naruto laced his fingers together behind his head and attempted to break the silence. "You gonna swim or not?"

"No."

"C'mon, bastard."

Sasuke gave his student a pointed look to which Naruto grinned toothily. "Hey, I said _you _couldn't hold a conversation without insulting me. I never said I could do it."

"It was practically a given."

"It was not."

"Yes, it was."

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was."

"No, it wasn't!"

"It really was." How in the hell Sasuke had gotten sucked into such childish banter, he didn't know.

"No, it wasn't! Get over it."

"Hn." He sighed softly and then reached for the hem of his t-shirt, slowly pulling his shirt up. A blush began to grace Naruto's features as he took a step back and practically shrieked, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I thought we were going to swim." He narrowed his eyes at the blond, promising sweet death if he made a comment about his agreement.

"Oh...yeah. We are." He mumbled something under his breath before quickly adding, "Going to swim, that it. We are going to swim."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto yet again. "Yes, yes we are."

"Good."

"All right."

"Sounds like a plan."

"...Yes, it is."

"Good."

"All right then."

"Goo--"

"Uzumaki."

"What?"

"Shut up."

The blond, surprisingly, complied and stared as Sasuke pulled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it onto the nearby bench. He was reaching for the button on his slacks before he noticed those eyes still trained on him, and he (with much effort) resisted the urge to throw his arms up in exasperation and call the student a complete and utter moron. "Uzumaki."

"Hm?"

"Why are you staring at me?"

"I'm imagining how good you would look being pounded into a mattress," He replied without missing a beat. Sasuke began to take steps to retrieve his shirt before Naruto reached out in a slightly desperate gesture.

"Hey, I was joking!" He put his hands up in surrender, as if trying to demonstrate. "I was just joking. No need to freak."

"Whatever." The raven proceeded to ignore the blond as he undid the button on his pants, the loud zzzzzzip sound echoing throughout the room. It made Sasuke vaguely remember a romance novel he'd read in which the sound had been described as erotic.

It didn't sound all that erotic to him. Just loud.

He slid out of his slacks easily and then folded them neatly, walking to the bench and placing them next to his shirt. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring at Naruto impatiently. He began tapping his pointer finger on his forearm, his eyebrow (yet again) going up. He'd never had to raise his eyebrow this much in his life. It just goes to show how much of an idiot his student was.

"What?" The blond asked after he realized Sasuke was staring at him.

"Are you swimming with your uniform slacks on?"

"Huh? Oh, right." Naruto discarded of his pants as Sasuke gracefully walked to the edge of the pool and slid in, the water rippling and splashing softly. The water was cold on Sasuke's skin, though not necessarily unpleasant, and he felt as if it really was calming. The room was nice and quiet, the perfect atmosphere for him to just sit back against the edge of the pool, close his eyes, and relax.

Hm. Maybe he should buy a pool for his house...

Sasuke's peaceful moment was quickly shattered as Naruto let out an animal sound, ran, and did a cannonball right into the water.

As the water drenched Sasuke as it came back down, he wished the idiot had dived into the shallow end instead.

"Whoo! This water feels great, huh, Sasuke?" Naruto said cheerfully as soon as he emerged, shaking his head and flinging water drops like an animal.

Sasuke glared at him through his bangs, thoroughly soaked. "Oh yes," He replied dryly, "Splendid."

"What's your problem now, asshole?"

"You got me wet."

Naruto snorted. "Yeah, that tends to happen when you get into a pool filled with water."

"Don't get cynical with me, idi--"

"Ha!" Naruto laughed obnoxiously, pointing at him the finger Sasuke so desperately wanted to break off. If that blond pointed at him _one more time_, he would find himself short a finger. "You insulted me! I knew you couldn't do it!"

"I did not insult you," Sasuke denied.

"You said idi!"

"I didn't finish the word. For all you know I could have been about to say, 'international exposition.'" (3)

"The hell?!"

"Exactly. So it doesn't count."

"Smartass bastard," The blond replied, making a face. He slowly waded over to Sasuke, seemingly calm, and then began floating on his back in silence.

Sasuke mentally sighed, letting his eyes flutter closed and relaxed his body. What was he thinking about initially? Oh, yeah. The fact he should get a pool. He should have enough money left over at the end of the month, after he paid all of his bills and taxes, set aside 20 of his monthly earnings, and—hey, did he even pay his March bills yet?

Shit. If he actually checked his answering machine once in awhile, he'd probably find solicitation calls. But somehow all these annoying women got his phone number and loved to call and leave a million messages. All important calls went to his cell phone.

...Not that his duty as a citizen of Japan of paying bills wasn't important, but...yeah.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"Tell me about yourself."

Soft water splashes were the only reply to Naruto's question as Sasuke let the words be washed away. God, this was so nice, he could almost fall asleep again in this water.

"Sasuke?"

Agh, there it was again, that voice was going to ruin his calming moment. Maybe, if he ignored it, it would go away.

_Please _let it go away.

"Sasuke? Sasuke? Sasuke. Hey, Sasuke. Sasuke? Sasuke? Sasuke? Hey, hey, Saaaaasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke? Sasu-ch--"

"My fucking—what?"

"You didn't answer me." A bright smile held in place on Naruto's face as he decided to wade even closer to Sasuke, causing the raven to reflexively sink closer into the wall. If he didn't have so much pride, he would call the grin he was being given unnerving, but since Uchihas do not get unnerved, it was just...not unnerving.

"It's probably because I don't want to," He explained, smirking slightly as he saw the blond get riled up. He was so easy to provoke it was ridiculous.

"Just answer it, smartass!"

"Why?" Sasuke began to wade forward slightly, his smirk widening. "There's nothing that you need to know. You're my student, not my colleague."

Naruto rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest. "What is it with you and being difficult?"

"What is it with you and being--" A grin spread across Naruto's face as he eagerly awaited the next word, but Sasuke refused to give him the satisfaction of being proven correct. "--overly curious?"

"Damn it! I almost had you!"

"Hn." The smugness wafted through his voice and he knew it.

"Will you please just tell me one thing?" Sasuke scowled deeply as the blond's eyes grew wider in a pleading expression, the rippling of the pool water reflecting in his eyes. God, did they have to be so fucking blue?

"...All right."

"Hell yes!" The blond's fist shot up in the air, flinging water at Sasuke to which he glared. Fucking blonds.

"One thing about myself?"

"Yep!" He looked so excited and eager; it almost hurt Sasuke to do this to him.

Wait...no, it really didn't, it just made it even more fun.

"My hair is naturally black."

"Bastard!"

* * *

"Sasuke. Saaaaasuke! C'mon, wait up!" Naruto ran after his teacher, who was stalking rather rapidly down the hallway towards the stairwell. He fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, cursing under his breath as one refused to go through. Damn it, Sasuke _must've_ taken track if he could walk this fucking fast, it was ridiculous.

Water from his hair slowly trailed down his neck and into his shirt, making it stick to him in wet patches. Why in the world was Sasuke so mad over him talking to his brother? It wasn't like he'd given out the stupid man's personal information to a complete stranger.

Not that he knew much personal information to give away, but, whatever.

After Naruto had dived under the water and 'accidentally' came up between Sasuke's legs (which got him punched, hard, and he knew his eye was going to look pretty bad the next morning), 'accidentally' grabbed the Uchiha's ass (which got him punched again, right in the gut, and he knew he was going to have a bruise there the next morning as well), and 'accidentally' attempted to kiss the man (he'd gotten the corner of his mouth, which got him kneed between the legs, and he wondered if he would ever get to have children after that one), he'd accidentally—and this time had honestly been an accident—let it slip that he'd been talking to Sasuke's brother.

Yeah, so that hadn't gone well at all, because the stupid raven tried to honestly drown him. Seriously, he just wouldn't let go of his head, and Naruto thanked whatever God there was Sasuke had thought he was dead when he was pretending to be. He almost died. Died!

It made him vaguely wonder what he would do if Naruto had told him he'd had phone sex with his brother instead of the truth...

"Saaaaaaasukeeeeeee!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

"Touchy..." Naruto slowed down slightly, making a face, and then buttoned the final button on his shirt before running after the Uchiha. He caught up to Sasuke in the stairwell, who was stalking up the stairs like a giant black cloud of doom, and if he looked from a certain angle, it almost looked as if Sasuke was...sulking.

"What's the big deal? He's family, right? So what's the problem?"

"You don't get it."

"No, I really don't, and I won't until you explain it to me."

Sasuke let out a soft sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, before stopping suddenly and turning to glare at the blond. Naruto looked at him strangely but said nothing, waiting for him to elaborate. The raven stopped at the top of the steps, turning to face Naruto, and crossed his arms over his chest with a glare etched on his face.

They stood for about five minutes, Naruto staring expectantly and slowly getting annoyed, and Sasuke glaring as if somehow, if he glared hard enough, it would give his brother amnesia.

"There are certain things," He began just as Naruto was about to say something, "that an Uchiha must never do."

"What's the big deal about your family, anyways?" He made a disgusted face as Sasuke looked at him appallingly. "I mean, even your brother was making a big deal about you guys. Why do you think you're fucking special, anyways?"

An astonished chuckle left Sasuke's lips, and the glare faded from his face only to be replaced by a look of shocked amusement. "You've really never heard the Uchiha name before? Ever?"

The blond pretended to think about it before rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "No."

"You know nothing about the corporate world, then," Sasuke said dismissively, opening the door before him and walking down the hallway. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, wondering if he was supposed to know about this 'corporate world' before running after Sasuke.

"Hey, wait! Sasuke!"

"Your detention is over," He called over his shoulder in reply, disappearing into the teacher's room. Stupid Sasuke and his obsession with that room!

"Can I have a ride home?"

"No."

"Sasuke!"

"That's 'Uchiha-sensei' to you, Uzumaki-kun."

"Fucking...!" Naruto growled under his breath, stalking into the teacher's room angrily. "Don't you dare try to get all unfamiliar with me, asshole!"

Sasuke stared at Naruto coolly as he gathered his things, holding his briefcase under his armpit. "I don't seem to recall us being familiar in the first place, Uzumaki-kun."

"Why is it so damn hard for you to break one rule?!" Naruto was beginning to get frustrated. Now Sasuke would barely even talk to him simply because he'd spoke to Itachi, and it was bullshit. "Are you that afraid of your brother?"

Sasuke blanched at the word afraid, his posture becoming rigid as he spoke, "I am not afraid of my brother. I simply refuse to tarnish the Uchiha name."

"Oh, so that's it," Naruto said with a smug smirk, folding his arms over his chest. "You're so terrified of your brother and what he might do to you that you try to be absolutely perfect."

"I am not," The Uchiha replied childishly through gritted teeth.

"You and your family act like a bunch of prideful assholes, but in reality you're just cowards. You can't break a rule."

"I can do whatever I want! I'm not afraid of anyone!" Sasuke was starting to look angrier and angrier. What had Sakura called it? That 'reverse psychography' or whatever she'd said, really did work.

"Oh, really?" Naruto pointed a finger at Sasuke, grinning broadly and exerting arrogance. "I bet you've never broken a rule in your life!"

"I have too and it's not like I couldn't do it again," Sasuke spat back; oh, this was too easy.

"Really? Then give me a ride home. It's against school policy to interact with students in any manner that could be considered intimate, and if you break a school rule, well, maybe I'll be able to believe you're not such a pussy." Naruto stared boldly at Sasuke, waiting for him to accept his challenge.

As Sasuke thought over his decision as if the destruction of earth depended on it (seriously, Naruto couldn't believe he'd barely broken a rule before, it was just ridiculous,) Naruto hoped Sasuke hadn't memorized the school's handbook or something, because it wasn't actually against policy to give a student a ride home.

He just wanted one.

"Fine," Sasuke eventually huffed, giving Naruto a deathly glare. "But if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will make sure you actually do drown in that pool." His eyes narrowed dangerously as his voice lowered, showing how serious he was. "And that is no empty threat, Uzumaki, so it would do you well to remember that."

"Yes!" The blond exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face as he began to bounce from foot to foot. "Not only do I have a ride home, but I also got you to drop the suffix on my name! Not to mention now we can have hot car sex!"

"You're not stepping a foot inside of my car." The Uchiha brushed past Naruto easy, gliding out of the room as if walking on air.

"What? Why?!" Naruto spun around, facing the man in faked shock as he walked out of the room. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll let you be on top!"

"You're definitely walking home."

* * *

It was quiet.

Sasuke glanced over out of the corner of his eye to see if the blond hadn't fallen asleep in his car or something, but he was still awake, his eyes staring intently at the scene before him. It wasn't much, a very typical scene in downtown Shibuya (where they were currently stuck), but his eyes drank it in so eagerly, as if he were actually taking the time to cherish everyday life.

He sighed lightly and tensed as Naruto shifted in his seat, never tearing his gaze away. His eyes darted from area to area, a content smile on his face, his fingers twitching as he were yearning to just open the door, get out of the car, and enjoy being involved in the everyday bustle of people.

"It's weird."

Naruto's head slowly turned to Sasuke, his eyes moving away at the last moment, the smile still on his face, but now looking strangely out of place. "What?"

"You're actually enjoying the everyday life most people ignore. It's weird, a lot like you."

The blond bristled, as if preparing a comeback, before settling into a bright smile. "It's refreshing. You should try it some time, maybe it'll loosen the stick that seems to be stuck up your ass."

"I was under the impression you wanted _your _stick up my ass." The words slipped out before Sasuke had even comprehended them, and he immediately cringed after hearing them out in the open.

Fuck. Why was he actually exchanging such jokes with his student? Wasn't this against the law or something?

He knew, though. Because as an Uchiha he had to have every illegal action performable memorized so he refrained from doing them. And no, he had not fallen asleep three or four (or five or eleven) times while reading that book that was thicker than fucking Tokyo Tower, instead he had memorized the whole thing word for word. Only at the moment, he could not recall if it really were against the law or not, and not because he'd done something like forget—since, of course, Uchiha's never forget anything because they all supposedly have photographic memory—he'd simply, on instinct, not let himself think over it because he was driving and it would be very reckless of him to focus on anything other than driving while he was driving.

Yes. He had not forgotten.

Nope.

"Is that an offer?" Naruto's eyes brightened with the question, straightening his posture as if planning to jump on Sasuke that moment if his answer were an affirmative.

"No."

"Aw, come on, Sasuke!" He placed a tan hand on Sasuke's inner thigh, grinning mischievously. "I promise I'll make it good."

"If that hand does not move soon, Uzumaki, I will snap your fucking wrist."

"I won't even charge you much!" The hand slid further in, and if Naruto even moved his fingers slightly, they would brush against his crotch. Red light. Please let there be a red light so he could snap this fucking wrist and then every last bone in his fingers as well. "Just a few study sessions, you know? Isn't that a pretty fair deal? You help me pass, I fuck you good?"

Sasuke slammed on the breaks, ignoring the screeching sounds of other breaks and loud, angry horns belonging to the cars behind him. Naruto's hand retreated quickly as he held it safely at his chest, giving the Uchiha a ridiculously fake apologetic look and looking about to speak words to supposedly 'make up for it'.

Three...

"You know..." _Shut him up, please, someone, I know this moron is going to say something stupid._

Two...

"If it makes you feel any better..." Please, Oh God of the heavens, strike him mute, I beg of you!

One.

"...you can be on top...?"

Fucking moron.

"Sit in the back."

"What?" Naruto's smile faded into a disbelieving expression as he slowly let his hands relax to lie in his lap. "You're joking, right?"

Sasuke leaned over Naruto's lap and pushed the door open, staring death at him. "No. Sit in the back. Or better yet, just get out and walk to the station. It's not that far from here."

"It is too! I would have to get on a completely different train to get back to Shibuya Station!"

"So?"

Naruto rolled his eyes with an exasperated sigh, giving Sasuke a look. "Do I really need to give you the whole crappy teacher bit again?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and tapped his finger impatiently on his steering wheel. "Spare me. Just get out of my car."

"Honestly, please, I promise I'll stop hitting on you for now!" He closed the door and climbed over the compartment between the seats into the back, sitting in the middle and buckling his seatbelt. "C'mon, Sasuke, please don't be a bastard and make me walk!"

"Out."

"Sasuke!"

"OUT."

"Uchiha...sensei? Please?" Sasuke inwardly screamed as his student's cerulean eyes came at him full force, swimming with emotion and beauty that made him desperately want to kill. Stupid. Fucking. Eyes!

"...Fine."

Sasuke had a sinking feeling that from now on, with Naruto in the picture, life was going to be pretty crappy.

* * *

**(1)** Osaka-ben is a Japanese dialect.

**(2)** Watakushi is a very proper way of addressing yourself, rarely (if ever) used by males in Japan.

**(3)** The word for international exposition in Japanese _bankoku-hakurankai_, starting with 'ba' just the same as the word for idiot, _baka_.

The next chapter is breaking me apart. This is the last reposted chapter, so the next chapters are brand new! This means I'm pressured and feeling incompetent since I haven't written fanfiction in almost a year. I mean I've been writing during that time, yeah, but not fanfiction and I hope I still can convey a grasp on the characters ;-; I hope you guys enjoy.

Next chapter will have Iruka and probably Gaara. We'll see.

Remember to review!


	7. Lesson 7

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is copyright to Kishimoto Masashi and all those other people who have copyrights for it as well; unfortunately I am not one of them.

**Author's Note:** The start of brand new chapters. For all of you who've been eagerly awaiting this since I started reposting this story, thank you very much and here is your reward. For those of you who've been following the story since I reposted it, thank you very much as well and this is a reward for you.

For anyone in the medical field—since I did a slight bit of explaining in this chapter, if I am exceedingly wrong on something _please_ let me know so I can fix it the best I can. I did a little bit of research but I fear it won't be enough; corrections would be wonderful.

Anyways, without further ado, enjoy! Thank you all so much for your reviews, I appreciate them greatly. I'm having a ridiculously hard time replying because changed their interface and it pisses me off, but…yeah. I'm trying, I swear.

**Summary:** Uzumaki Naruto is a terrible student in school who has a special talent--he can seduce just about any male. When his newest male teacher demands perfection from everyone, what is he to do? Put that talent to use, of course! NaruSasuNaru, AU.

* * *

**Seduction**

**Lesson Seven**

* * *

Naruto glared at the car speeding down the street, sticking his tongue out childishly before rubbing the back of his head. After being forced to sit in the backseat Sasuke had suddenly gained an extremely angry and limited vocabulary, only saying things like, "Shut the fuck up," or "Get the fuck out off my car," or he was granted with more words in things like, "If you do not sit back and buckle that damn seatbelt, Uzumaki, I swear I will slam on these brakes and send you flying through the windshield."

He hadn't even _done_ much; the bastard was totally overreacting. So what if he put his hand on his thigh? At least he hadn't tried to unbuckle his belt. Stupid Uchiha was so uptight.

Heaving a sigh, he tossed his schoolbag over his shoulder and jogged up the steps to his house, exhausted. Sure, messing around with Sasuke was fun and all, but it was tiring as hell.

The setting sky created a soothing backdrop as he unlocked the door and stepped into the house. The soft pinks, oranges, and purples blurring in the sky created a soft, ethereal light in the rooms. The cool air from the ceiling fan was a relief to Naruto and he sighed as it swirled past him.

He dropped his bag gracelessly in the front hallway and slipped out of his shoes, jogging toward the kitchen before skidded to a stop and groaning. Damn it, he had homework, didn't he?

He turned around and grabbed his bag in a single move, spinning in his socks on the hardwood floor before striking a pose. Grinning to himself, he headed for the stairs to drop his things off in his room. Homework or no, it was a pretty good day.

Turning the corner found Naruto flailing wildly, trying to regain his balance. He slammed into the wall next to him, cursing loudly and glaring at the offending object. He'd tripped over an _apple_. Oh joy.

Snatching up the apple, Naruto continued to the stairs. His scowl slowly morphed into a frown as he saw more and more fruit littering the hallway. Needless to say, it was not an everyday occurrence that there was just food in random places (not counting Naruto's room.) Iruka, when he was home, was a terrible neat freak and even Naruto wouldn't leave fruit to roll around the hallway floor. Had someone broken in…?

His body froze and his eyes widened comically as he stared at the heap on the stairs, his mind slowing. The large wooden fruit bowl that had been in Naruto's room for the past week lay empty on its side not far from the staircase. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly as he tried to form words, but nothing came out and no words came to mind. There was nothing for him to say at the moment, nothing that could be deemed appropriate.

The soft light from the sunset suddenly cast a grey tint over everything, darkening the rooms, and the once calming whir of the fan now sounded like a jet engine. He felt like the walls had suddenly closed in on him and the floor was dropping out from underneath him, leaving him to fall into nothing. The moment was surreal; there was no way this was actually happening.

"…Iruka?" Naruto's voice came out cracked and small, gradual and tentative. His feet slowly began moving him closer centimeter by centimeter, socks sliding against the hardwood floor. He didn't know when he had dropped his schoolbag because suddenly it was no longer in his hands and that worried him. Of all times to be worried about his _schoolbag_, he chose now.

"Iruka, you shouldn't sleep in such places," and just like that his voice was back and his face was forced into something resembling his normal, peppy expression. He whirled around, wobbling on his unsteady legs and suddenly feeling very heavy, and grabbed his schoolbag from the floor. He attempted to strike a pose like he'd done mere moments ago by the front door but he couldn't; his arms were lead and his legs were stone when he tried.

"Iruka, wake up." Naruto's voice was louder now as he looked at the heap on the steps and even though he couldn't see the face and sure, it was dark, his entire being knew that it was his guardian like a mother knows her child. He felt like there was a stone hanging from his neck and with every passing moment it got heavier, making it harder for him to breathe. "Iruka, wake up!"

He continued until he was looming over the unconscious man, noting the small pool of blood by his head and trailing down the side of his face from his hairline. Pointedly ignoring the apparent injury anger bubbled inside Naruto, his face twisting in anger and all of the air in his lungs being used up in one yell.

"IRUKA, WAKE UP!" His voice broke at the end of the command, tears he hadn't even felt welling up spilling over his cheeks and leaving a somewhat itchy trail in their wake. His hand stretched out to shake the man before suddenly everything clicked in his mind. Iruka was not sleeping. Iruka was injured, maybe dead for all he knew, and he was not taking a nap in a strange place.

Iruka could be dead.

He scrambled backwards and toward the kitchen phone, nearly tripping a number of times as he mentally scolded himself for not realizing sooner. If Iruka died it would be his fault; he gawked at the man instead of making a call. He refused to accept reality instead of making an extremely important, maybe life-saving call.

His fingers punched in the emergency number and his voice spoke without him being aware of any of it. The house was so grey and dark, and the fans were on even though it was chilly. Had he locked the door when he came in? He needed to pick up the fruit from the floor and do his homework; Sasuke would be so proud of him and Sasuke would fall in love with him and Sasuke would teach him and Sasuke would be with him and Sasuke would reassure him and Sasuke would be here silently picking up the fruit and Sasuke would…

He was crying so much, God he was crying so much and he _never _cried. Men don't cry and especially not men like Naruto, crying was pointless because it did nothing but make your face feel dry and stretched out and it made your eyes itch and your cheeks itch and your nose run and it made a complete mess. His throat hurt so badly and he vaguely realized he'd been screaming at some point and his fingers were clawing at his face and hair because he realized it was likely _his_ fault, all of this could have been avoided if hadn't been so damn stupid and frivolous. If he hadn't gotten that fucking detention he would've been home fucking hours ago and he would've brought the fucking fruit bowl down from his own fucking room and fucking _fuck_, he was such an idiot.

His neighbors were banging on the front door, likely having come over after hearing screaming and he laughed bitterly to himself despite the situation; they were so fucking nosy all the time. He tried to lift himself off the floor before wondering when he'd gotten there and he couldn't remember doing anything except seeing Iruka and standing there, except wasting time at a stupid detention he could've avoided. He couldn't even remember successfully getting off the floor and answering the door; apparently to deal with the shock his body was moving on auto-pilot.

Naruto's mouth moved yet he had no idea what he was saying or what expression was on his face. His neighbors kept nodding and staring solemnly but he couldn't concentrate on anyone's words; all he saw was Iruka as he stood over him doing nothing. He vaguely wondered if Iruka was dead and felt nothing at the thought, though at the moment he was through feeling anything at all, not even guilt. He knew it would eventually settle in but for now all he saw were Iruka and the blood and himself standing over his guardian doing _absolutely nothing—_

He then decided he wouldn't go to school the next day.

* * *

The room was surprisingly small and cluttered for a one person room; he'd seen hospital rooms before on TV and they always looked rather spacious. The room was monochromatic and he never understood why hospitals always did that. Sure, a vivacious red would likely be too much for their most frequent patients, but muted colors never hurt anyone.

Iruka was unconscious in the slightly raised bed, the white covers tucked tightly around his body and bandages wrapped around his head. Moonlight trickled in softly through the blinds and the sounds of night echoed through the room. His foot tapped impatiently against the linoleum and he bit his clenched fist, eyes staring into space. The lights overhead buzzed and flickered erratically, gibing Naruto a searing headache.

Iruka wasn't dead. He had been told by the doctors he'd probably been unconscious for about five to ten minutes before Naruto arrived home, saving his life. The wound was not especially terrible, most wounds from stairs were not, but the placement was the actual danger. Apparently he was at risk of having bruised his brain, which could seriously affect his memorization skills and more importantly, his life. It was uncommon in falls among men his age but seemed to be a major possibility.

Naruto felt as if his mind had been thrown into a blender on high speed and he was being forced to think with the creamed remains. Things that should have made sense to him were making none and though he was a little more focused, the dazed feeling he'd had earlier still lingered.

He kept thinking of stupid things even though he felt like he should be thinking something meaningful. Iruka may never have a chance at a full life again, so shouldn't he be thinking of the good in his life and why to never take it for granted? Instead he was sitting here and thinking of Western foods and why hot dogs were named such.

He heard the sound of flip-flops smacking against the floor and knew Sakura had finally arrived. He was tired of being alone in this hospital, sitting here with nothing to do and no way to help. He had been staring at a sleeping Iruka for the past two hours thinking of meaningless things. Though his guardian had woken up for some time earlier, there was no chance to talk before he was placed in a medically controlled state of unconsciousness.

The sound of flip-flops stopped abruptly and he heard a soft sigh from behind him.

"Naruto."

Her voice was rather soft and breathy as she spoke, as if she were happy to see him sitting there in a relatively sane manner. Naruto smiled sadly and bowed his head; he knew she was the right person to call. As strange and at one time hateful their relationship was they had grown rather close.

He turned to her slowly and laughed lightly when he saw her, causing a small frown to appear on her face. She had on an oversized blue t-shirt with green pajama shorts peaking out the bottom. Her hair was covered in pins and forced back into a ponytail, purple flip-flops with giant flowers adorning them on her feet. She adjusted her large bag on her shoulder before sighing again, the frowning deepening.

"Yes, I know I look terrible."

"You look lovely, Sakura." She snorted and rolled her eyes, holding out her arms.

"You liar." Naruto chuckled again, rising to give her a hug.

* * *

The night was soft and draped gently around the two teens as they sat outside of a nearby convenience store on a nearby bench. Naruto slouched in his seat, fingers idly playing with the box of pocky in his hands while a pink stick bobbed up and down in his mouth. Sakura sat with her feet up on the bench, texting with insane fervor with a pocky stick protruding from the corner of her mouth as well. It was silent but comfortable, their long friendship ensuring such a thing.

Sakura suddenly shut down her cell phone, causing Naruto to lazily look at her from the corner of his eyes. She tossed it into her large bag by her feet before looking him square in the eye, face soft and sympathetic. If it were anyone but Sakura he would feel insulted.

"Naruto," Her voice complimented the night perfectly, gentle and wispy like the occasional breeze. A long pause followed his name, her eyes darting around her face as if the words to speak were written there. He briefly glanced at her before looking back to the sky, placing another stick of pocky in his mouth.

"What…were you there when it happened?"

"No." Now that the opportunity was before him he didn't feel like talking as much as he'd thought. He just wanted to stare at the sky with his pocky and not think about anything. His guardian wasn't even dead, for goodness sakes, and yet he couldn't help but feel hopeless and helpless.

Sakura deftly plucked a stick of pocky from Naruto's box, breaking the tip off with pressure from her tongue and staring into the sky. Her left hand incessantly slid over her bare ankles in a nervous manner, pausing only when she spoke.

"What happened? As far as you know, of course."

"I don't know." Naruto refrained from looking at her, pushing the last of his pocky stick into his mouth. He took a fresh stick in his fingers and twirled it around while sighing lightly. "I came home and found him lying there. He had fallen down the stairs."

"What…was it like?" Her voice was unsteady and quiet as she asked questioning, green eyes refusing to look at him. Naruto made a face at her, snapping his stick in half in his fingers.

"What the hell kind of question is that? I don't know what it was like. Creepy, maybe unsettling? I found my guardian unconscious at the base of stairs, Sakura, not receive my first kiss."

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Naruto laughed bitterly in response; he had expected her to be so much better at this. All of her questions were stupid.

"Should I be?" Sakura's responding giggle was a lot less bitter than his but somehow was still appropriate for the situation. She turned to him and smiled sadly, her eyebrows knitting together in worry.

"No, I guess not. These things are hard—"

"He's not dead, Sakura," Naruto interrupted, pulling a hand through his hair. His expression twisted to one of frustration and anger as he continued speaking in a strained voice. "He's not even fucking dead and I feel hopeless and helpless as if he were! I can't do anything to help and he's not here, Sakura, he's not here."

"Someone doesn't have to die for a reaction to settle in, Naruto," She spoke softly with a smile to match, every word as delicate as she appeared in that moment. "He doesn't have to die for you to worry about what life would be like without him. Maybe it's a good thing to worry every once in a while. It keeps us from living life recklessly."

Naruto pondered her words for a moment, leaving them in the surprising silence of early night. "So am I right in feeling this way?"

"How exactly do you feel?" Scrounging up his face, Naruto turned to the side sheepishly with a blush dusting his features. He wasn't really one for just pouring out his emotions to someone, especially when said someone sounded frighteningly similar to a psychologist.

"I don't know…guilty, I guess?" His hand pushed through his hair again in a nervous habit, gnawing on his bottom lip unrelentingly. "Kind of lonely and helpless? Agh, I don't know, Sakura!"

"But you _do_ know," She replied. Her eyebrows furrowed as she processed his response. "Wait, you feel guilty you said? Why would you feel guilty?"

"Well…" Naruto began scrunching the box in his hands tighter now, eyes darting around the girl's face. "I left the fruit bowl upstairs in my room for weeks, ignoring him every single time he told me to bring it down. If I had just _listened_ to him and brought the fucking thing down, he wouldn't have gone upstairs to bring it down in my place and he wouldn't have fallen down the stairs—"

His tirade was cut off abruptly as Sakura's palm struck across his face like lightening, her eyebrows furrowed tightly and her lips pursed. Eyes widened in shock as the reality set in and hands gingerly came up to cup the side of his face, turning to her with anger.

"What the fuck did you hit me for?!"

"The real question is what the fuck are you _talking_ about?!" He fell silent at her words, unused to hearing her talk in such a manner. Her face was flushed in anger and her eyes were deadly and set on him. "You think it's your fault because you didn't bring down a _fruit bowl_ from your room?"

"He wouldn't have had to—"

"That's bullshit, Naruto, complete and utter bullshit! You think with a fruit bowl downstairs instead of in your room he would've never gone upstairs? Gain some common sense!"

"Look, Sakura—"

"No. Listen to me, Naruto. I'm not going to sit calmly and sweetly and let you blame yourself for something that was no one's fault! You are too good to lower yourself to that and we are too good of friends for me to let you."

Naruto looked silently at the girl in front of him as her chest heaved, skin beginning to match hair color. She began to look slightly sheepish at her outburst but refused to back down, staring him down with an intensity he'd never known she had. His hands slowly fell from his cheek, causing the girl to gasp and little before giggling. He smiled in response before even knowing what he was smiling over, figuring Sakura would tell him soon enough.

"I'm…sorry about the handprint, by the way."

He began laughing slowly and Sakura did as well, their laughter gradually building up until they were clutching their sides in an attempt to alleviate the pain. Tears streamed down Sakura's face and Naruto wasn't sure if it was really from laughter or because of him and his feelings towards the situation. He decided that it didn't really matter; he was content with taking in this moment caught in time.

* * *

Warm light trickled in through the slightly transparent curtains on Naruto's window, blowing back slightly with the occasional breeze. A ceiling fan cut through the air and whirred gently in the background as Naruto shifted in his bed, arm over eyes.

The thin sheets were strewn messily over his body, comforter primarily on the floor. He felt no need to fix anything; if it were up to him he would choose to waste his days away in this bed doing absolutely nothing. He wouldn't mind fading for awhile, maybe forever. It wasn't as if he wanted to die, it was just that he didn't want to _exist_. Existing meant facing the day, it meant thinking about what he was going to do with Iruka in the hospital, and it meant working towards something he didn't want to go toward.

Returning to the house the night before had negated everything he had achieved with Sakura. The fruit had still been scattered all over the floor and that damned fruit bowl had still been by those steps. The sounds of night being echoed and the darkness felt near suffocating, even after turning on the lights. All he could think of was Iruka's body on those stairs, of his tentative steps towards his guardian, and of his wasted time.

He couldn't see Sakura's crying face anymore. He couldn't feel the sting of her palm against his cheek and he couldn't feel her words cutting into his guilt and ripping him from it. The empty sky and wooden bench felt like an image behind glass; nothing was his anymore. He didn't have that reassurance anymore and he felt weak for easily letting go.

Maybe going to school that day would've been good for him. Escaping the house and being around friends that would forcibly rip you from a bad mood didn't sound that bad, but when he tried to move to do so he was stopped. He didn't really want to force his bad mood onto anyone; Sakura had been enough the night before and he wasn't about to make her put up with him for another day. He would bring everyone else down and he didn't know if he would be back up anytime soon. He couldn't do that to his friends.

So he chose instead to lie in his bed and try to figure things out himself, to try and pull himself out the rut he was currently in. He would think of something, someway to bring himself back up. While he was at it he would think of working towards independence as well. He couldn't live forever thinking that someone would be around to clean up after him and to pay for his necessities. No, he would begin to do things for himself as often as possible. He was no longer a child; therefore he could no longer live like one. He would relieve the burden that was he from Iruka's shoulders, and he would do it in such a dignified way the man would swell with pride.

He didn't want to let this push him too far down. If he stayed down there, Iruka would be upset. But he couldn't help but feel it, that niggling sense of hopelessness and one question echoing in his head—_what do I do now?_

Sure, he had a general idea—find a way to support himself, his grades, and make Iruka happy—but the specifics mattered so much more. How was he to support himself? Was he supposed to get a job? What if the school still didn't want to let Naruto get a job? His grades were still horrendous.

_Sasuke_.

Naruto groaned and turned on his stomach, burying his face in his pillow. How was he supposed to bring his grades up with Sasuke as his teacher? He couldn't get help from him, and damn if that guy didn't rile him up—in more ways than one—every single time he was present. If he didn't bring his grades up the school wouldn't let him get a job. Besides, the prospect of him scoring in the top ten in the regional exams was absolute bull. He was in the _Kanto _region for goodness sakes; this was where legends were born and the impossible made possible. How was he supposed to score in the top _ten_?

There wasn't even a point to thinking about it. He couldn't become a genius in the next couple of weeks and he didn't particularly care to. He just wanted to bring his grades up to something reasonable. Then, he would swallow his pride, get on his knees, and beg.

…that sounded rather homoerotic, but the general point was still visible.

Whenever he went back to school—hopefully tomorrow, but he couldn't make any promises—he would approach Sasuke seriously and ask for help. No games, no tricks, and no flirting.

Okay no, he couldn't promise the last one, but he would try his hardest. Not just for himself but also for Iruka, he would become something.

Slowly Naruto rolled over and sat up in his bed, stretching and watching as the last bit of his garish comforter slid off his bed and onto the floor. His eyes dragged to his alarm clock, groaning as he realized it was approaching noon. He slowly stood up with renewed vigor; the excess sleep had made his body ache, but he was more than prepared mentally to face the day. He would visit Gaara, then Iruka, and after that he would spend the rest of the day studying. He would _try_, even if it killed him in numerous ways. He would put his all into trying.

After all, it's better to regret doing than to regret not doing.

* * *

"Oi, Gaara!"

Naruto grinned at the set of viridian eyes that slid towards him, his arm flailing in something that was supposed to resemble a wave. He jogged lightly up to the teen in front of the store, smile brightening at the slight lift of a hand in reply.

"I haven't seen you in awhile."

"Yeah, well," Naruto chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "sometimes life gets in the way, you know? I'm a man of priorities."

Gaara's eyes flashed. "Are you saying I'm low on your priority list?"

Laughing loudly, Naruto clamped a hand on Gaara's shoulder. "I haven't even been here for a full minute yet and I'm somehow insulting you! Man, what's with me?"

"You should work on thinking before you speak."

"Funny, you sound just like Iruka." Naruto immediately regretted the words the second they came out of his mouth, a gate opening to allow upset thoughts to flood his mind again. Maybe he should've visited Iruka before coming here, just to put his mind and his stomach at ease. He felt nauseous just thinking of the situation for some reason, probably because all he could seem to imagine was the worst of things.

"You seem upset." Jumping slightly at his sudden words, Naruto forced out a laugh and shook his head.

"Nah, I'm fine. Just school stressing me out, you know how it is."

"And you wonder why I didn't go to high school."

"Hey! It was Iruka's idea, okay?" He could feel his face falling as he spoke and tried desperately to keep up his normal demeanor. "I just want to make him proud."

Gaara paused momentarily before turning away from Naruto to pack items in a display, speaking disinterestedly, "What will you do after high school?"

"I don't know, really," Naruto replied with a sigh, crossing his arms and leaning against the building. "Call me crazy and I know it's an insanely long shot, but I kind of want to go into politics."

"It's not crazy." Gaara stared at Naruto with a softer than usual expression, his equivalence of a smile. "I used to want to do the same thing."

"Politics? Really?" Naruto pushed off the wall with a grin, excitement filling him. "I would've never guessed! Why didn't you stay in school and go after that? You totally have the temperament," he joked, nudging Gaara with his elbow.

Gaara shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to progress in politics if people don't like you and I don't really have the highest likeability factor."

"Aw, don't be so hard on yourself!" Naruto nudged Gaara again, this time receiving a glare. "You're really a likeable guy! You just have to let people get to know you, you know?"

"Or _you're_ just overly friendly."

"Hey! People are drawn to _me_. I mean, blonde hair and blue eyes in Japan, everyone wants a piece of Uzumaki Naruto!"

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Until you open your mouth, that is."

"Jerk," Naruto grumbled, making a face at his friend. Then he brightened. "You know, most guys like me _more_ when I open my mouth. Maybe you'd like me to open my mouth for you, huh?"

His response was a deadly glare and boxed object thrown at his head.

"I was kidding!" Naruto laughed, catching the object before the corner stabbed him in the eye. "Geez, no need to be so volatile! You're almost as bad as Sasuke."

"Who's Sasuke?" Gaara picked up the empty box and walked into the store, Naruto following as usual.

"Just my teacher," He replied breezily, to which Gaara abruptly stopped and Naruto crashed into his back. Whirling around and slicing Naruto with the edge of the box in the process, he leveled the blonde with a stare.

"Is that his given name?"

"Yeah, why?" Naruto appeared confused for a moment before his eyes lit up and he laughed sheepishly, hand coming up to scratch the back of his head. "Well, it's kind of a long story, but I do address him by his given name, yeah. That's not to say he likes it, though. He's a fucking prick, seriously."

"I have time." Gaara turned back around and continued walking through the store, Naruto trailing after with a confused expression.

"It's not that great of a story, really," Naruto explained, near jogging to keep up with the other boy.

"I want to hear it."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Seriously, Gaara—"

"Are you sleeping with him?"

"Wha—Gaara!" Naruto threw his hands up in exasperation, glaring at his friend as he placed the box in the trash. "What the hell?!"

"I'm trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for why you'd not only address your teacher by his given name, but refer to him as such so _casually_. It's not normal demeanor, Naruto."

"I told you, he doesn't like when I call him by his given name," Naruto repeated, and Gaara glared.

"That doesn't explain why you refer to him as such in the first place. Are you friends?"

"Well…not…really?"

"You _are_ sleeping with him." Naruto's jaw dropped as Gaara spun on his heel and stalked out of the room. He was not sleeping with Sasuke!

Well, not yet anyways…

"Would you listen to me?" Naruto jogged after the other boy, frustration building. "I'm not sleeping with him!"

"You are," Gaara called over his shoulder, still walking toward the employee room.

Naruto's fists clenched. "I am _not_ sleeping with him!"

A hush fell over the store as curious and surprised eyes turned to him. Gaara didn't even falter in his steps as he continued towards the employee room. Naruto ran his hands through his hair and sighed, stopping abruptly when he noticed all of the not-so-surreptitious eyes on him. People were so nosy; how he hated that.

"Mind your own damn business!" He yelled, and the people in the store either jumped or made lame attempts at pretending to have not been staring. Sighing again he chased after Gaara into the employee room, planning to sort this out.

So much for friends ripping you out of a bad mood.

* * *

Half an hour later found Naruto sitting across from Gaara in a nearby McDonalds, shoving a Teriyaki burger into his mouth violently all the while glaring at Gaara. An invisible eyebrow was perched and belittling him as Gaara silently slid fries into his mouth. What a jerk, he didn't even have the decency to look a _little_ upset about the fact Naruto was glaring at him!

All it had taken was a paid-for meal—it wasn't ramen, but food was food—and very few words for Naruto to spill the entire story. He told him about Sasuke, about his plan to get better grades, about Iruka, about he and Sakura's conversation the night before, and about Itachi aka Sasuke's-brother-from-hell-who-seemingly-had-one-hell-of-a-brother-complex. His tirade had taken him through way more emotions than he had ever wanted to experience in the span of ten minutes, hence the glare. After all, it was Gaara's fault, having wanted so desperately to know the whole story! He typically _liked_ to remain with 2-3 emotions in that time span.

Stupid friends who are no help whatsoever when you need them to be.

"…so you call him Sasuke because you're trying to get into his pants so he'll raise your grade?"

Naruto glared harder.

"Sorry, I meant you call him Sasuke because your grade is suffering and it will somehow help."

"Your sarcasm is less than appreciated," Naruto grumbled, stuffing the last of his burger into his mouth. That invisible eyebrow was mocking him, damn it, all high up on Gaara's forehead and stuff…

"Excuse me if I don't understand how you think this'll work out. Obviously he has proved to not be so shallow and horny that would fuck you and then give you an A."

"I know that," Naruto replied indignantly, scowling. "I'm not expecting that to happen. He wouldn't be Sasuke if it did happen."

Naruto crumpled up his food wrapped and set it on the tray, sighing happily and sitting back. Teriyaki burgers would never be as good as ramen, but they were still extremely delicious.

"What, exactly, are you expecting then?" The invisible eyebrow became more menacing and blue eyes were glued onto it. How the hell could an _invisible eyebrow_ be so condescending?

"Damn it, Gaara, tell your invisible eyebrow to stop staring at me!" The invisible eyebrow instantly dropped as Gaara stared flatly at him, his hand at his mouth pausing with his fry.

"Have you been sleeping?"

"You're one to ask," Naruto grumbled, snatching up one of Gaara's fries. As Gaara continued to stare at him he sighed, averting his eyes.

"I'm expecting things to work out, okay? I'll make sure that they do."

"Are you planning to blackmail him?"

"Gaara!" Naruto's outburst silenced the restaurant, causing curious eyes to look to him for the second time in the past hour. Running a hand through his hair, Naruto sighed, fiddling with a napkin. Gaara stared at him without wavering, calmly eating his fries in silence.

"Just…trust me, okay? Everything is going to work out just fine."

"All right." Gaara placed another fry in his mouth as he replied smoothly, staring Naruto down in the same steady way. Sighing again, Naruto brought his drink to his lips.

He should've just stayed home.

* * *

"Sasuke!"

The man in question looked up from his grade book, staring expectantly at the silver-haired man leaning against the doorway to the teacher's room. Sasuke returned to his grades as Kakashi languidly slid over to his desk, perching himself on the edge with a misleading smile.

"How were your classes today?"

"Fine, thank you," Sasuke mechanically responded, writing a number at the top of a test paper and then in a small block in the grade book. Kakashi made an appreciative sound, nodding his head and looking around the room.

"How are your students?"

"Fine, thank you," He repeated, tossing the test paper into a specific pile and picking up another one. Kakashi made another appreciative sound, following the same routine of nodding his head and gazing around the room. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as his pencil lead broke again; where the hell had his pens gone?

"I hear you have a student missing a lot of school, Sasuke," Kakashi commented in passing before leaning in and pointing. "That is _not_ a nine, Sasuke; that is a _q_."

"What? I know it's a nine," He snapped in reply, pulling his grade book away from Kakashi childishly. (1)

"I meant it wasn't the _number_ nine—"

"What other number would it be? Fifty-two?"

"Forget it," Kakashi waved his hand in the air, as if physically dispelling the question, before returning to his previous statement with a devious smile. "I hear you have a student missing a lot of school."

He watched in fascination as Sasuke's shoulders tensed at his words, pencil pausing briefly. "What of it?"

"He hasn't been in school since he had that detention with you, which was how many days ago?"

"The detention was five days ago, and he hasn't been present for the last four days." Sasuke sat straight up in his chair, attempting to coerce Kakashi into dropping the subject with a chilly glare. "Again, I ask, what of it?"

"Do you know where your student is?"

"Should I?" Kakashi laughed, attempting to lighten the mood Sasuke was bringing down quickly, and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke's glare switched to the hand on his shoulder, pointedly trying to convey a message Kakashi chose to ignore.

"Of course you should!"

Sasuke snorted in reply, going back to his grades. "I'm his teacher, not his caretaker."

"Maa, Sasuke, you really don't understand, do you?" Sighing heavily, Sasuke put his pencil down and sat back in his chair. He crossed his arms over his chest as he replied in an acerbic voice, "Then explain to me, O Wise Counselor, what exactly do I _not_ understand?"

"Ah, the immaturity of youth," He breathed in reply. Ignoring Sasuke's sharp glare at his dodging of the question, he cocked his head to the side and tapped his chin with his pointer finger. "Though I think you're old enough that you should be past that stage, Sasuke. How old are you again?"

"You're a little young to be going senile, Kakashi, but obviously that hasn't stopped you." Sasuke closed his grade book and put it into his bag, planning to go home.

"Sasuke."

Sighing and grumbling under his breath, Sasuke met Kakashi's serious eyes reluctantly. "What, Kakashi."

"You seem tired."

"Will you just say what you need to say so I can go home?"

Shrugging, Kakashi stood up and brushed invisible dirt off his clothing, stretching his arms out in front of himself. "You know, Sasuke, there's more to being a good teacher in Japan than just teaching."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, shoving other folders into his bag. "Thank you for that, Dr. Phil."

Feigning shock, Kakashi stared down at Sasuke with a smirk. "You watch American talk shows?"

He laughed at the glare he received in response, finally making his way towards the door. He stopped half-way, turning back to the grumbling Sasuke. "Sasuke…I'm really serious. There is more to being a teacher than just teaching, and you should remember that."

"Whatever." Sasuke zipped his bag closed, slinging it over his shoulder and pushing his desk chair in. "I'm going home."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Kakashi called over his shoulder, continuing his walk to the doorway, "the principal wants to see you; that's what I came in here to tell you. Bye-bye, Sasu-chan!"

He snickered devilishly as he felt Sasuke's eyes burning into his back. Ah, the joys of being the Bringer of Bad News.

* * *

Sasuke glared at the piece of paper in his hand as he stalked down the empty hallway, crumpling it up and shoving it into his pocket. Of course. Of course he would be forced into doing something as counter-productive and time-wasting as a _home visit_. Of course the principal would choose now, of all times, to go utterly stupid and ask him—not even ask, that was much to lax of a word—_demand_ him to make a home visit!

Apparently that blond moron's guardian was in the hospital with a head trauma or something related to that, and it was why his student hadn't been in school for the last four days. The school had just been informed that last night his guardian had actually slipped into a coma, which was rare, and had not awoken from it yet.

Sasuke wasn't a _complete_ monster, he understood why his student wouldn't want to be in school while this was going on and he respected that. It was hard to watch a parent—or guardian, in Naruto's case—suffer in the hospital and have no means to help them. He realized that Naruto was likely going through a very hard time, especially if it were his first time dealing with the hospitalization of a family member, and just maybe the boy needed someone.

But Sasuke also realized that he expressed sympathy and provided emotional support about as well as an inanimate object. Asking him to make a home visit and console his student was like asking the moon to go cool down the sun.

…okay, wait, that analogy didn't even make sense. But still. He couldn't do it.

He brought his hand up to his eyes as the sun shone directly in his eyes, just beginning to set. He heard one of the janitors grumbling behind him as he exited the building, making his way towards the parking lot. He fussed with his bag, trying to get it to stay out of his way as he searched his pockets for his keys. Sasuke's frustration grew as he continued on his mental tirade without successfully finding his keys.

Besides, what was he supposed to say when he got there, anyways? Hi, I'm only here because my boss forced me to come so don't take this as a sign of anything? Hello, I heard through my boss your guardian got injured, so now I'm here? What could he possibly say that would help anything?

This whole 'home visit' thing wasn't in the job description, was it? How come he suddenly had to double as his students' helper? God, what if Naruto wanted to _talk_? And where the _hell_ were his keys?

Practically throwing his bag down, Sasuke began to pat himself down while growling angrily under his breath. "Fucking keys, where the fuck are you fucking hiding?!"

Successfully finding them in his inner jacket pocket (in which he had never put his keys in his _life_), he ripped them out angrily, nearly ripping the pocket in the process. He held them in front of face, glaring at them as the same janitor rolled past him, eyeing him warily and muttering in French about crazy Japanese men.

Choosing for both the janitor and his own sake to ignore the French words just spoken, Sasuke grabbed his bag from the ground and continued his trek to his car. God, Itachi would be so pissed at him if he saw how he was acting at the moment.

And while he was on that subject, he was dreading the day his brother came home from Nagasaki. Granted, the guy should've been back three days ago, so he was already lucky. But when his brother finally _did_ return—since he probably wouldn't do something extremely convenient like die on the way home—all hell would probably break loose.

He'd had a very short (one minute and forty-three second) conversation with his brother over the phone about what had happened with Naruto. Itachi's replies were limited to two- or three-word sentences and monosyllabic noises. Sasuke had begun with trying to explain what had happened, but when his brother had failed to remember a conversation takes speaking on the half of _both_ parties, his vocabulary had limited itself to a rather similar state, simply with more irritation behind everything.

It ended with Itachi's voice magically gaining feeling, which was—big surprise here—thinly veiled murderous intent. This, of course pissed Sasuke off even further, and so he hung up on him. Itachi called back, Sasuke hit ignore, and then he received a text message containing the words, "when I see you."

He was less than thrilled about that one.

Wait, why the hell was he even thinking about that, anyways?

Oh, right. Naruto and that damned home visit.

Sasuke pulled out of the parking lot quickly, briefly noticing he almost hit the janitor from early. A small smile took over his face as he resisted the urge to yell, "That's called karma, asshole!" out the window before leaving the school grounds.

The smile slowly faded off of his face as he realized that really _had_ to make that home visit and whether he wanted to or not, it would be done before the end of the night. He sighed and began mentally adjusting his schedule.

He'd better find some tea to bring with him. (2)

* * *

There were very few times in Sasuke's life in which he felt nervous.

This was to be expected, of course, since he was an Uchiha. Uchihas didn't _get_ nervous; it symbolized weakness through intimidation due to a situation. Or did it symbolize the inability to prepare oneself? Whatever, it was something akin to that. Point was, Uchihas did not get nervous and Sasuke was, in fact, an Uchiha.

Still, that thought didn't soothe his nerves at all as he stood in front of his student's door with tea in hand, having yet to ring the doorbell. Really, he wasn't _nervous_, he was just…cautious. Yes. There was no guarantee that behind this door would be his stu—okay, yeah, even he had to admit that was utter bullshit.

Truth was that he didn't want to screw this up. And sure, maybe it was rather heartless that he was more worried about screwing things up for _himself_ than for his student, but he had to do this job to the best of his ability. He was an Uchiha, but he was also more than a last name.

Taking a deep breath and schooling his face into something resembling stoicism, Sasuke slowly raised his hand to the doorbell and pressed it. He wondered if all teachers felt like this the first time they made a home visit or if it was just him. Most of them didn't have the weight of the world on their shoulders, so probably not.

He fiddled with the neatly wrapped tea box in his hands as he heard approaching footsteps, shifting his weight from leg to leg as his expression grew more and more stoic.

The door slid open slowly to reveal a tired Naruto, scratching at the back of his head and failing to make eye contact. Shifting his weight again, Sasuke cleared his throat, uneasiness creeping back in when Naruto stared at him in shock, gaping like a fish.

"S-Sasuke?"

"Uchiha-sensei," He corrected smoothly, even though by now he knew it was a lost cause with him. If he could just take control of the situation, there would be nothing to worry about. "May I come in?"

"Of course!" Naruto's voice faltered slightly as he continued to stare in shock, moving aside for Sasuke to enter. "Uh, I apologize in advance for any mess; I really wasn't expecting company…"

"It's fine." Sasuke removed his shoes as Naruto continued to stare unabashedly. With a sigh, he commented, "You know, Uzumaki-kun, it would be nice if you could stop staring like a complete moron."

"It's just, I never thought," He fumbled, ignoring the insult with a sheepish smile, "I didn't expect you would ever come for a home visit, even if threatened with death. This is a home visit, right?"

Sasuke raised a curious eyebrow. "What else would it be?"

Naruto paused with his mouth open before shaking his head, laughing. "For the sake of a smooth evening, I won't answer that question."

Scowling, Sasuke shoved the wrapped box at his student. "I brought you some Earl Grey. I thought you might like it."

"What's Earl Grey?"

"…it's tea, Uzumaki-kun," Sasuke replied, wanting to plant his face in his palm.

"Oh!" Naruto brightened instantly, taking the box eagerly before looking at the wrapping strangely. "Sasuke, you know it's not Christmas, right?"

"Be happy I brought you anything," Sasuke growled, glaring at the younger boy. Naruto smiled cleverly.

"But then your manners would've been proved to be _terrible._"

"You mean like yours?"

"I let you in, didn't I?"

"Five minutes ago, and you still haven't offered me a drink or directed me to a place to sit down."

Naruto scowled, feeling caught. "Fine, bastard," he replied, walking briskly down the hallway. Sasuke followed with a smirk.

The house had a simple feel with very simple colors, the walls a pale blue and the floor hardwood. Numerous pictures hung from the walls, creating a homely feel, and the place looked extremely lived in. There were numerous pairs of shoes in the front hall and a large, leafy plant by the window. It was extremely different from Sasuke's own house, which looked extremely uninviting compared to this. It was a family home, a kind he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Like I said, sorry about the mess," Naruto mumbled as he led Sasuke into the living room. The room wasn't really messy, just lived in and cozy. A brief moment of jealousy went through Sasuke before he shoved it to the back of his mind; this was business. "I'll go put on some tea."

"Yes, thank you."

Naruto left the room as Sasuke situated himself on the single loveseat in the small room. He sat stiffly with his back not touching the chair and his hands on knees, taking in everything in the room. This room was carpeted and Sasuke curled his socked toes in the plush carpet, taking a moment to enjoy the feeling. He hadn't been a family house since he lived in one, which was almost eight years ago.

He heard his student shout something about turning on the TV, what exactly it was Sasuke wasn't sure, but he took up the nearby remote and turned on the television anyways. He slowly sank backwards into the sofa as he took in the news channel he'd just turned to, becoming immersed in a report about the current House of Representatives election. He'd practically forgotten about that; he needed to vote.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto questioned as he reentered the room moments later with a tray of tea and cups, furrowing his eyebrows in disgusted confusion.

"That was a commercial."

"For _what_?" Naruto asked. He set the tray down on the coffee table near them and knelt in front of it, beginning to pour the tea. "I made that Earish Gall, or whatever it was you just gave me, so I hope you like it and weren't just trying to poison me."

"It's Earl Grey," Sasuke corrected with a tick of his eyebrow, "and I wasn't trying to poison you."

"Says the guy who literally tried to _drown_ me not a week ago," Naruto retorted, handing a teacup to the glaring man on his couch. "I'd say you're out to kill me."

"I would say the same about you."

"I never attempted to take your life," Naruto protested while pouring himself a cup of tea. Sasuke snorted in response, lifting the cup to his lips.

"You do so every time you open your mouth."

"Once again, I could say something here," Naruto replied with a smirk, sliding up to the seat next to his teacher. Sasuke immediately tensed and scooted farther away from him, sipping quietly. "But for the sake of a smooth evening, I won't."

It was surprising to Sasuke how calmly they'd just gone through their 'normal' (albeit unprofessional, damn it) banter. There was no shouting and no real death threats, just the sound of tea being poured and calm words being exchanged. Honestly, it felt awkward to Sasuke, as did this whole evening already. He had hoped earlier there was a way in which he could be in control of this situation, since when Sasuke was in control he was composed and professional, but that strategy was proving to be impossible to use. There was no way to be in control of this.

He took a deep breath, sipping his tea again quietly before making a resolve to do his best to wing it.

Comfort talks may not be his forte, but he could surely do his best and dig deep—hell, really deep, since he couldn't even remember the last time he'd gotten a 'comfort talk'—and pull through for his student, since that was (supposedly, still had to check that job description) what teachers did. But if this night ended with blood and bruises, it was not his fault.

"Uzumaki-kun," Sasuke began as gently as possible, turning to face his scowling student. He thought about attempting a smile and then decided against it, instead opting for the _b) stare awkwardly_ option. "How are you doing?"

"God, how many times do we have to go through this?" Naruto sighed in response, scowling for all he was worth. "For fuck's sake, I was named Naruto for the sole purpose of people _addressing_ me by it. It's just sitting after my family name collecting dust, which neither of us want, so can you please, for the sake of your own sanity, call me Naruto?"

The gentleness fell off of Sasuke's face in an instant, replaced by an infamous glare. Talk about ungrateful, greedy students. "No."

"Uptight," Naruto replied in a sing-song voice, staring at Sasuke with mocking eyes over his tea cup.

"Professional," Sasuke replied calmly, to which Naruto snorted and choked momentarily, coughing up tea and spraying it all over the place.

Leaping up, Sasuke set his own tea down on the table and attempted to wipe his face off with his bare hands, glowering for all he was worth at the hysterical blonde. He was practically rolling around the seat in a strange, seemingly unhealthy combination of laughter and choking. Sasuke considered momentarily helping his progressively dying student before he chose instead to leave on a quest for the restroom.

"Wait! Sasuke! I'm sorry!" Naruto exclaimed through fits of laughter, obviously thinking Sasuke was leaving. "I'll behave, promise! Sasuke!"

This was, without a doubt, going to be the _last_ home visit he did.

* * *

The lights on the TV flashed brightly as the newscaster rambled on about the current political race, catching the attention of the two men on the couch. The sun had nearly completely set and there was only a splash of orange left on the bottom of the horizon, letting Sasuke know as he glanced out the window that quite some time had passed since he'd gotten there. The ceiling fan whirred lightly and the tea in his hands was now lukewarm. Surprisingly enough, though, the atmosphere wasn't nearly as unpleasant as he had expected it to be.

Sasuke and Naruto hadn't talked much since Naruto spit up all over Sasuke, but there was no tension in the silence. They just sat quietly together, sipping their tea while watching 'Japan's Best Political Team'. Slowly the tension in Sasuke's body seeped out of him, leaving him relaxed and at ease on Naruto's small couch. (3)

At some indefinable point, Sasuke realized he kind of _liked_ this moment. It was the first time since he'd seen Naruto with a black eye that he actually didn't mind his student. And sure, by tomorrow he'd probably be back to the loud, obnoxious, perverted high school student he obviously was at heart, but for now Sasuke didn't mind him.

Taking in a deep breath, Sasuke shifted in his seat to face the young man before him. Slowly Naruto's eyes slid from the TV to him, staring blankly as Sasuke opened and closed his mouth, trying to find words. Or maybe it was more of trying to find the willpower to say the words. He took in another deep breath before staring Naruto down, mentally making a vow to rise to the challenge.

"Naruto," He began, noting his student's surprised face that he quickly tried to cover up, "how…how are you?"

Naruto stared at him for a moment before chuckling, smiling and turning back to the TV. "Still with that question, Sasuke?"

Sasuke clenched his cup tightly, a scowl slowly forming on his face. "Why won't you answer it?"

"You're hoping that I'll say 'fine' so you can go home, right?" Naruto shrugged, sipping his tea. "Maybe I'm not fine, and maybe I don't want you to go home. But if neither of those matters to you, what's the point of answering the question? Actually, what's the point of asking them?"

"If I were that desperate to go home, Uzumaki-kun," Sasuke replied, returning to his professional demeanor, "I would have already left."

"True." Naruto shrugged again, sipping his tea. "But that doesn't change the fact you don't want to be here."

"I don't do 'comfort talks'; I would've guessed you'd already inferred that." Sasuke replied, irritation creeping into his voice. Figures, the one time he goes out on a limb and tries to be nice, it's ill-received.

"You don't have to give me a pep talk; like hell I want one." Naruto snorted in amusement at this, rolling his eyes before pinning Sasuke down with a look. "But just being here willingly and, you know, letting me talk _at_ me—would that be too much?"

"I haven't stopped you from talking at me. You just haven't tried. And," Sasuke continued when Naruto opened his mouth to speak, putting a hand up, "I never said I didn't want to be here."

"…do you want to be here, then?" Now Naruto, surprisingly enough, looked embarrassed. He hid his face in and spoke into his cup, eyes trained on the TV. Without really knowing Sasuke did the same, turning to the TV and taking a sip of his now unpleasant, lukewarm tea.

"I don't mind," He spoke honestly. He wouldn't lie and say he really _wanted_ to, but to say that he didn't want to wouldn't be quite accurate, either.

Naruto smiled, looking at Sasuke from the corner of his eyes, and Sasuke ignored it. For a moment he wondered if he was encouraging the blond's crush, but something in him told him that this moment had nothing to do with it. For now, it was just Sasuke the Teacher being here for Naruto the Student.

A rather awkward silence fell over the two men for an extended period of time, both of them fidgeting uncomfortably. Sasuke couldn't stop spinning his cup in his hands, unable to focus on the news in front of him, and Naruto kept moving all around the couch. Finally the blond sighed, looking down at his hands and speaking in a small voice.

"Do you think he'll get better soon?"

"I don't know."

Sasuke began to fidget even further underneath Naruto's scrutinizing gaze, feeling a bit wrong for answering his question truthfully. If he were in Naruto's place, he wouldn't want anyone to lie to him for the sake of his feelings. It was only right to answer honestly.

"You know, I always wanted to go into politics," Naruto commented after a moment of silence, looking back to the TV. Sasuke snorted in amusement.

"Your school grades have a lot of work to do, then."

"I know, bastard," Naruto replied, his insult lacking its usual bite. "But I still would like to, one day, be prime minister of Japan. Be just a little bit encouraging."

"I wish it well, then," Sasuke replied with a smirk, taking another sip of his tea. Naruto glared for a moment before breaking into a smile again, hiding his face behind his tea.

"Thank you."

* * *

**(1)** Okay, so pretty much the joke is that the Japanese word for nine is 九, or _kyuu_. Sasuke thinks Kakashi says _Q_, which sounds the same. Load of laughs, right? Jokes are never funny when you have to explain them XP

**(2)** It's polite to bring a gift with you when visiting someone's house for the first time, therefore Sasuke bringing tea. If that's wrong in any way, someone let me know.

**(3)** Points for anyone who figures out the news channel I stole that from.

So, that's the very first brand spanking new longer than any other chapter. Massive number of words, guys, I'm talking over 10,000. All in all, there are parts I don't like and parts I do. It's hard because I know this chapter feels really different from the others; not only were there serious things to address, but I feel my writing is different as well. I hope you still enjoyed it and still have hope in me to continue this story. I'm really putting my all in it, and your support means a lot to me.

The next chapter hasn't been started. Roughly, you can expect me to (sorry, guys) update about once a month, give or take. Not all the new chapters will be this long; they'll be about eight pages less, but…yeah. I hope you continue to read and definitely, _definitely_ drop me some constructive criticism. I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you guys so much.


	8. Lesson 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Sorry. :shrug:

**Author's Note: **This is for **Raz**, **Aznara**, and **BlaiseCorrupt**, for trying hard to motivate me when it seemed impossible.

Also if someone can tell me why my y!messenger doesn't work anymore, I'd be delighted.

**Summary:** Uzumaki Naruto is a terrible student in school who has a special talent--he can seduce just about any male. When his newest male teacher demands perfection from everyone, what is he to do? Put that talent to use, of course! NaruSasuNaru, AU.

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**Seduction**

**Lesson Eight**

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"Naruto?"

Naruto had barely been in the school for two minutes when he first heard a familiar voice call his name. He looked up from removing his street shoes to find Kiba standing in the direction of the hallway, face pleasantly shocked. A grin spread across Naruto's face as he worked his laces.

"Kiba!"

"Fuck, it _is_ you man!" Kiba made his way over to Naruto and patted his shoulder roughly, a sharp grin on his face. "It's been too long!"

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, sliding into his school shoes and pretending to pluck something from Kiba's face. "Years almost. Is this facial hair growing on you now?"

"Shut up," Kiba replied, pushing Naruto's shoulder, but the smiling face was still steadfast.

"Where's everyone else?" Naruto asked casually, and Kiba shrugged.

"Shikamaru is in the classroom sleeping, obviously, Chouji's in the classroom trying to get breakfast in before class starts, and Shino is…ah, who the hell knows, probably summoning great beetles of death or something. Sakura and Ino are down at the Teacher's Room trying to get Sasuke to pay attention to them while Hinata stands in the background. Not much has changed."

Naruto laughed at Kiba's response, the familiarity of the school setting settling back in easily. "I should've figured as much. Especially with Sakura and Ino, considering I haven't been here to easily overshadow them."

Kiba groaned. "Speaking of Uchiha-sensei, it seems like someone took the stick out of his ass and shoved a fucking tree trunk up there instead. It's been hell."

Naruto grinned, putting his street shoes into his locker and standing with his school bag. "It's because he's missed this beautiful face. No wonder he came to visit me."

"Right," Kiba drawled, rolling his eyes. He adjusted his bag on his shoulder as the two of them began to walk to their classroom. "I'm sure he was just grieving at the loss of your fa—wait, did you say he came to _visit_ you?"

"Yup!" Naruto beamed proudly. "He came on a home visit because I hadn't been in school after Iruka had…after he'd had his accident."

A damper immediately fell on the two teens' spirits as they continued down the long hallway in silence, students bustling around them. Naruto stared at the ground with his hand scratching at the back of his neck, feeling the melancholy he was desperately trying to suppress drip into his mood. Kiba stared intently out of the window, having always been bad at things like this and yet still wanting to help.

Fuck.

"So, uh…" Kiba finally forced out, his voice sounding awkward to his own ears. He cleared his throat before continuing. "How is Iruka doing now?"

"He's…getting better, slowly. He woke up from his coma yesterday afternoon and I got to talk to him for a few minutes." Naruto laughed bitterly, his face portraying a sad amusement. "He was upset with me for not going to school."

"Well, that's good. He's awake."

"Yeah. The doctor said he should be out in a few days, so…things are looking up."

Kiba clamped a hand down on Naruto's shoulder, smiling at him. "Optimistic as always, blondie. Glad to see you're doing okay."

"Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto and Kiba both turned to find Sasuke walking towards them with a folder in his hand, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata trailing 'inconspicuously' (yeah, right) behind him. Although sour Kiba immediately bowed, greeting his teacher properly. Naruto stood expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"This," Sasuke began once he reached him, holding out a folder as thick as a brick to Naruto, "is the work you missed while you were gone. All of these assignments are due two weeks from today, which is more than generous. You missed three exams while you were gone as well; you have three days to make up the first one and a week to make up the other two."

"What the hell?" Naruto took the folder from Sasuke's hand with a disgustedly shocked expression on his face. Peeking out of the side of the folder were color-coded tabs for each class, each holding at least fifteen pages of work. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, and before you go off on your whiny tirade of how you don't know how to do any of the things in there, I will _briefly_ go over each section for each class during your detentions this week."

"Wait, I still have detention today? I just got back!"

Sasuke gave Naruto a look as if to say, 'your problem, not mine.' "I'll see you in class. Inuzuka-kun."

"Yes, sensei!"

"Ass kisser," Naruto grumbled under his breath, and Kiba flinched.

"Your job, not mine."

Sasuke walked passed the two of them toward, Sakura and Ino immediately rushing up to Naruto and smashing him in a hug. Hinata lingered in the background, blushing and stammering quietly to herself as Kiba stared intently.

"Naruto! You're back!" Sakura wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, nearly choking Naruto but causing him to smile anyways.

"Not for long, seeing as you're currently killing me."

"Oh, sorry!" Sakura released him and stepped back, a face-splitting grin on her face and her eyes slightly wet. "I'm just really happy to see you here and see you're feeling yourself again!"

Naruto slung an arm around Sakura's shoulders, laughing. "Of course! What can hold the great Uzumaki Naruto down with depression?"

"Nothing!" Ino replied, pumping her fist in the air. Naruto grinned wider.

"That's right!" He released Sakura's shoulders as she began to try and surreptitiously wipe her eyes, failing miserably, but Naruto chose not to call her out on it. He instead leaned to the side slightly, making eye contact with Hinata and grinning.

Hinata jumped, her face immediately going red as she began to try and stammer out a greeting again.

"Hey, Hinata! Good to see you again too!"

"Y-yes, Naruto-kun, I'm g-glad you're—you're back."

Sakura glanced at the watch on her wrist briefly before sighing. "Okay, guys, we've got to go. Lunch?"

"Hell yeah!" Kiba exclaimed. "On the roof, in commemoration of not being there for a while!"

"Ugh, it's like five degrees Celsius outside, Kiba," Ino complained, and Kiba shrugged.

"Suck it up. Rooftop lunchtime!"

"This should be a democracy, asshole!"

"We're not in America!"

Oh, how Naruto loved his friends.

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The wind blew across the roof in violent waves, nearly throwing all of the students on the roof off of their careful perches. The sun hung brightly in the sky, deceiving people into thinking the weather was pleasant. The air was cool and breath was nearly visible, feeling more like late October rather than early May. Naruto buttoned his blazer with trembling fingers, grumbling in irritation.

"So _whose_ idea was it for us to eat outside in five degree weather?"

Immediately fingers pointed at Kiba, the faces of the owners all disgruntled. Kiba looked around in astonishment, upset with being pointed out so quickly and grumpily.

"Well _fuck you_ then! I was just trying to be nice!"

Ino rolled her eyes, rubbing her hands up and down her arms and huddling close to Sakura and Hinata. "Trying to be _nice_? I told you this morning it would be too cold, dimwit! But no, you didn't care because you weren't going to be the one stuck in this weather with a fucking mini-skirt on!"

Kiba shrugged and made a face at her, ticking points off of his fingers as he replied. "First off, Ino, you really should control your language and learn to act like more of a lady. Corporate Japan is never going to accept you the way you are now."

"Asshole!"

"Secondly, you are _more_ than welcome to leave if you're that cold. No one is forcing you to stay here. Hell, I'm encouraging your departure."

"I'm forcing her to stay here," Sakura interjected through chattering teeth, pulling Ino and Hinata closer for warmth. Hinata blushed.

"A-as am I, Kiba-kun." Hinata smiled at him, causing Kiba to immediately become flustered. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and laughed.

"Well, I guess if it's Hinata-chan who wants—"

"Besides, Naruto is my friend too," Ino interrupted, a smug smirk spreading across her face like gasoline lit afire. "I can't leave you all alone with him, anyways. You'll try to inconspicuously weasel your way into Naruto's pants, and I can't have that."

"Wait, who wants into my pants?" Naruto perked up, grinning and feigning hope. But even with the typical grin and nonchalance he was putting forward Sakura still kept shooting him curious looks, signifying she knew something was up. Oh joy.

Naruto was trying—harder than usual, even—to keep a level head and not dwell pessimistically on Iruka's condition. It wasn't even like he _wanted_ to dwell on Iruka's condition; all he wanted to do was thoroughly enjoy his friends after a week of pretty much going between his house, the hospital, and occasionally the store Gaara worked at. He wanted to sit with them and stare at the clouds, talk to them about the strangest of things, and play 'Marry, Shag, Throw off a Cliff' until he was blue in the face, but no matter how hard he tried to, he just couldn't.

It was as if all he could see was Iruka—his pallid skin and the eyes that rarely opened when Naruto got the opportunity to be there. It plagued him like nothing else; the spark of a thought that maybe, just maybe Iruka would never look at him again. And yeah, he knew he wasn't supposed to dwell on the 'what if's or whatever, but with the thought gnawing at him like this it were near impossible to do so.

He didn't know how to live without Iruka in more ways than one, but currently the physical reality of it was smacking him in the face—how the hell was Naruto going to be able to support them? It wasn't as if Iruka's job was going to support them forever, and who knew when Iruka was going to be okay again. Naruto had no way to pick up the slack and to return the favor and he hated it.

If there was one thing Uzumaki Naruto did not like, it was being helpless.

"Hey blondie?"

Naruto jerked backward slightly as Kiba called him, finding the other boy's face uncomfortably close to his own. Laughing off his momentary lapse he grinned, making kissy faces. "Ooh, Kiba, I never knew you were so forward."

Kiba recoiled quickly as the girls laughed, making a face and shaking his head.

"Every time I try to be fucking _nice_ and _caring_," He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest grumpily, and Ino laughed.

"Aw, Kiba. We're just curious as to how _nice_ and _caring_ you want to be to our Naruto-chan."

"Hey, I'm not the gay one here!"

"Geez, Kiba, you sure are defensive," Naruto inserted, raising a curious eyebrow at Kiba. Kiba threw his arms up in exasperation.

"I give up."

"U-um…it's time for us to get back to class," Hinata remarked, Sakura and Ino still clinging tightly to her.

"Well, that's my cue," Ino remarked, tugging Hinata with her towards the door to the roof before waiting for any response for anyone else. Kiba stood as well, wiping any dirt from his pants before stretching his back.

"Mine also. I don't actually have Naruto's stupidity; therefore I'm not going to get on hardass's bad side."

"He's not so bad," Naruto replied with a smile. Kiba stared incredulously.

"You're joking, right?"

"Pretty much."

Kiba punched Naruto's shoulder playfully, rolling his eyes with a smile. "You're an ass."

"No, I'm just higher than your level of genius. Outsmarting Kiba since 1941!"

"You can barely write genius!"

"Okay!" Sakura intervened, glaring at the two of them. "Kiba, you go catch up with Hinata and Ino and head back to class. I need to talk to Naruto."

"Yeah, well, maybe I need to talk to Naruto too," Kiba replied defiantly, eyeing Sakura suspiciously and crossing his arms over his chest. Sakura frowned.

"You'll be late."

"That's okay."

"You'll get on Uchiha-sensei's bad side."

"I'll get off of it quickly enough."

"Uchiha-sensei will kill you before you have the chance."

"Dogs have nine lives too, you know."

"Kiba," Sakura said, drawing his name out in exasperation. Kiba shook his head.

"Nope."

"Come on—"

"Look," Kiba interrupted, glaring at Sakura, "I can tell by the look on your face and the one that's been on Naruto's all day that something his bothering him and you intend to find out what it is. And maybe I also want to find out what it is and do my best to help, even if that isn't my specialty. You're not the only one who can care about blondie, Sakura. We're all friends."

"Guys!" Naruto interjected, looking between he two of them with a sheepish smile on his face. "I'm okay. No need to worry and definitely no need to argue."

"Sorry," Kiba grumbled, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "It's just, you're not really yourself. I mean, I thought you were because I was flipping shit about it this morning, but now I realize you're not and…it's strange."

"How eloquent," Sakura remarked dryly, rolling her eyes. "Besides, Iruka is in the _hospital_. Of course he isn't himself."

"Sakura," Naruto warned, and Sakura sat herself on the ground next to him huffily.

"I know, I know. Sorry."

Naruto sighed heavily as well, a silence falling over the three teens. Naruto played with the hem of his slacks and slowly Kiba sat on the other side of him, exhaling loudly and pointedly staring at the skyline.

"So what's up, blondie?" Kiba's voice was soft albeit extremely awkward and spoken as a statement rather than a question, catching Naruto off-guard. A smile cracked on Naruto's face as he shook his head.

"You guys are too much. I'm fine, really."

"Okay, so you're emotionally 'fine' as far as Iruka goes," Sakura replied dismissively, her eyebrows drawing together, "but it's obvious that something _is_ bothering you. What is it?"

Naruto remained silent for a moment before sighing heavily, running a hand through his hair. "Do you…okay, so I'll give you guys a fake situation."

"Hypothetical?" Sakura supplied, and Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, that. Okay, so say there's this guy—"

"This better not be gay," Kiba groaned, and Naruto rolled his eyes with a smile.

"No, it isn't. Anyways, there's this guy who lives with his…aunt. Yeah, and his name's…Donnie. So the aunt always supports him financially and in life and whatever because Donnie's a minor. Okay, so then one day his aunt gets injured, right? And she's in the hospital for over a week and obviously not working and barely even conscious most of the time. And then Donnie realizes now that he and he and his aunt won't be able to live on her job forever—because that's what is currently funding them, the job—and his aunt is still bedridden. So what should he do?"

Sakura and Kiba stared blankly at him and Naruto looked between the two of them, his eyebrows furrowing testily.

"What?"

The two teens burst into laughter, causing Naruto to shrink away in confused embarrassment and anger. What the hell had he said wrong?

"That was the _worst_ 'hypothetical' situation I've ever heard in my life," Sakura gasped out between fits of giggles, causing Naruto's face to scrounge up further.

"Shut up! I did my best!"

"But normally hypothetical situations are so people _don't_ know you're talking about yourself."

"Assholes," Naruto grumbled. Sakura laughed and Kiba pushed him lightly.

"Now, as for this 'Donnie' you were speaking of," Sakura paused to giggle a bit, her laughter dying down as Naruto glared, "he really shouldn't worry. I'm sure that his aunt has life savings that can support them until she's well again—"

"But it's not just about the money, Sakura," Naruto interrupted. "Iruk—Donnie's aunt—"

"Just say your own name, Christ," Kiba interjected with exasperation. "We know it's you."

Naruto made a face at Kiba before continuing. "It's not just the money though. I mean, Iruka has been everything for me and has helped me anytime I needed it. Now that Iruka needs help I want to help him. I want to…I don't know. I just don't want him to have to carry me anymore, especially when now he can't even carry himself."

Sakura and Kiba remained in a thoughtful silence and Naruto sighed, playing with the hem of his slacks again. He knew it was a lost cause.

"Well…why not get a job, then?"

Both Naruto's and Kiba's heads snapped towards Sakura as she made the suggestion, their eyebrows high into their hairlines. Sakura shrugged with a look as if to say, 'hey, it's all I've got here.' Kiba desperately tried to hold back the intense urge to laugh himself dead.

"_Naruto_ get a job? You really think the school would ever allow that?"

"Well…no," Sakura said, sighing lightly. "Or maybe, if Naruto can prove that he's working hard."

"Sure, the vice going to give Naruto permission to get a job if he proves he's 'working hard'," Kiba replied dryly, his face amused. "That'd be simple, oh yeah."

"Look, I was just throwing something out there," Sakura retorted, throwing Kiba a dirty look. "I don't see you exactly vomiting suggestions."

"Oh, I _have_ a suggestion," Kiba said, smiling proudly. He put an arm around Naruto's shoulder and held his hand out, using it to emphasize every word. "Sleep with the vice."

"You're an ass," Naruto said while laughing, pushing the other boy off of him. Kiba grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, it'd work. You _do_ have that talent."

"Are you calling me a talented prostitute?"

"Well, you _could_ be one, you know," Sakura interjected, nudging him playfully. Naruto ducked his head down, grinning bashfully before peaking up at his friends.

"You think I could really seduce any guy easy?"

"Oh, don't act so coy; you can and you know it. You got through to Gaara, didn't you?"

"Well…what if I, well…what about Sasuke? I mean, since he's a fucking Uchiha—whatever the hell that's supposed to mean, I forgot to google his name—his recommendation _must_ mean something to the vice."

Sakura and Kiba exchanged glances over Naruto's ducked head, mouthing things furiously before Naruto sat up, saccharine smiles taking over both of their faces. Sakura patted the top of Naruto's hair condescendingly, smiling with barely restrained laughter as Kiba unashamedly fell over laughing.

"I said you could seduce a _guy_, not a fucking stone wall," Kiba gasped out, clutching his sides desperately. "I'd say give up if _that_'s your only option."

Naruto's face scrounged up in irritation. "Who the hell gives up?! Definitely not me!"

"What Kiba is trying to say, Naruto, is that maybe you shouldn't hope for something so…improbable when you have so much weighing on it." Sakura looped her arm in his, letting a giggle escape before subduing any further laughter. "Sasuke is too professional, too personal, and too wrapped up in things you'll never know about. There's not much of a way to get through to him."

"You don't know that," Naruto argued, pulling his arm from her, "and it's not entirely true. He's not all professional bastard, you know."

"Whoa, whoa." Kiba leaned back with his hands up in mock defense, staring at Naruto as if he'd just gone and grown another head. "Guys, seriously, I think there's something wrong with my ears now, because I could've _sworn_ I just heard Naruto argue that Uchiha-sensei wasn't all bastard."

"He came to see me on a _home_ _visit_, guys, and he actually tried in this awkward way to make me feel better. I'd say he's only eighty-percent."

Sakura stared at Naruto, causing the boy to squirm uncomfortably.

"Okay, ninety."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms over her chest, and Naruto threw up his arms in exasperation.

"Okay, ninety-six! But seriously, it's not any high than that!"

Sakura sighed and took Naruto's arm again. "Can I ask why you're so insistent about this?"

Naruto made a face. "I don't know; why not? I mean, it's not like he's _all_ bad and you're saying I couldn't get through to him because he _is_ all bad and I'm saying he's not and I totally could get through to him because he's not? I don't know. Agh, why does it matter?"

"I'm wondering the same thing."

Naruto sighed as Sakura laid her head on his shoulder, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to answer her question mentally. It wasn't like it really mattered whether or not his friends saw Sasuke as anything more than a bastard; after all, their opinion wasn't affecting anything. How they saw their teacher wouldn't change how Naruto saw Sasuke, and it sure as hell wouldn't change his _chances_ with Sasuke. But how exactly Naruto himself saw his teacher, he wasn't entirely sure, and that he did feel was important. If he didn't know Sasuke he wouldn't know where to start—or at least, where to start over with this whole seduction thing. He didn't think he was a _complete_ prick, that much was true, but he sure as hell didn't see him as an amiable friend, either. Then again…

"Agh, why the hell does it matter?" Naruto repeated suddenly, gripping his hair in one hand. Sakura and Kiba both pulled back slightly, exchanging worried glances. "It doesn't matter! I thought we were talking about Iruka and my getting a job, not about stupid Sasuke!"

"Hey, you changed the subject, man," Kiba replied, putting his hands up in surrender. "Don't go all apeshit crazy on us because you don't like the subject you chose."

"Look, Naruto," Sakura began, patting his arm encouragingly, "why don't you just talk to the vice for now? I know it's a long shot, but…it's something, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." Sulkily Naruto stood, brushing himself off as Kiba and Sakura slowly followed. "We might as well get back to class."

"Oh, don't be so goddamn pissy," Kiba snapped, whacking Naruto in the back of the head violently. "Whether or not Sasuke is a bastard is not the fucking meaning of life. Just chill."

"Fuck you, dog breath." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, ducking his head to avoid letting Kiba see the inevitable smile blooming on his face. Kiba slung an arm over Naruto's shoulders and laughed, already knowing its presence.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go."

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Light streamed through the window blinds strongly, casting stripes across each of the neatly aligned desks in the room. A breeze gently blew in from a slightly cracked window, ruffling everything in the room. The sound of a pencil tapping a desk rhythmically echoed throughout, slowly irritating Sasuke as he sat at his desk grading papers.

_Tip tip tap. Tip, tap. Tip tip tap. Tip, tap. Tip ti—_

"Would you stop that?"

Sleepy blue eyes slid over to him languidly, a mouth hanging open stupidly as the hand paused.

"Huh?"

"Stop. Tapping. Your pencil."

"God, I am so _bored_," Naruto drawled out, collapsing onto his desk. Sasuke watched as the pencil rolled off the desk and hit the floor, stopping next to his foot. He looked up to find Naruto staring at him expectantly.

"No."

"Just bend over and grab the damn thing," Naruto groaned, rolling his eyes, before a mischievous grin spread across his face. "And while we're on the subject of you bending over—"

"We're not." Sasuke shifted his foot slightly, successfully pushing the pencil to the midpoint between him and Naruto. Naruto's jaw dropped as Sasuke smirked in satisfaction.

"Oh, come on! You couldn't even have kicked it a _little_ closer?"

"A little exercise never hurt anyone."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You trying to call me fat?"

"No, Uzumaki," Sasuke sighed, shaking his head, "I am not."

"'Cause I'll have you know this is _all_ muscle, baby," Naruto plowed on, ignoring Sasuke's answer. He sat back and patted his stomach with a cocky grin. "All muscle."

"I'm sure."

"What, you don't believe me?" Naruto immediately stood and began to untuck his shirt. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, instantly knowing where the boy was going with this.

"Don't you _dare_."

"What? Don't you want to see?" Sasuke rolled his eyes at the devilish smirk on Naruto's face.

"I could easily live without."

"Like I'd grace you with such a glorious sight this early in our relationship," Naruto scoffed. He sighed lightly and picked up his pencil, sitting back down glaring down at his worksheet.

Satisfied with the silence, Sasuke went back to glaring at the stack of papers in front of him. Sometimes he wondered if his desire to keep his students from having the mental capacity of a rock made him a little…irrational. Sure, he didn't want people to think that hecouldn't teach his students anything or that he was a lousy teacher—because as an Uchiha he was to excel at everything he did, even if it was fucking knitting sweaters and _goddamn it_ he hated the stupid expectations of this family—but grading six different pages for thirty students almost every other day was really just a huge pain in the ass. He had betters things to do, like…other stuff. Yeah, other stuff which did not include _grading papers_.

"You know, if looks could really kill, your profession should be staring. You'd make a killing. Ah!"

Sasuke looked up at a hysterically laughing Naruto, hitting the desk with the proudest grin on his face. "Did you catch that!? Oh wow, I didn't even do that on purpose! Did you catch that?"

"No."

"I said, I said," Naruto gasped, still laughing, "I said, 'you know, if looks—if looks could really kill, your profession should be staring. You'd make a killing.' You get it? Y'know, looks, kill, make a killing—"

"I get it." Sasuke shook his head, the smallest hints of a smile around his mouth as he looked back to his papers. "You're an idiot."

"Idiot? That was clever and you know it!"

"How was it clever on your part if you said it wasn't on purpose?"

"You—agh!"

"Oh, how eloquent."

"You're so negative, you know that?" Naruto began waving his hands around in an awkward manner, trying to convey _something_ with his hands. Sasuke squinted and turned his head slightly, still not seeing it. "You're like—like a big, giant cloud of negative…negativity."

"Those hand gestures were supposed to be a cloud?"

"My god, you're an asshole. In fact, you probably win the title of 'asshole of the year' every year, don't you?"

"No, I don't think I've ever entered that one," Sasuke replied smugly, and Naruto made a face.

"Yeah, well, you've just been nominated, and oh—oh, what's this? You've won hands down!"

Sasuke just shook his head again, picking up his pen with the intention to get back to his work. The next moments passed with the sound of Naruto squirming around uncomfortably, breaking any small bit of concentration he had possessed. He looked up and Naruto met his eyes bashfully, shifting in his seat again.

"H-hey, I have a question." Naruto stammered awkwardly, making a complete one-eighty from his previous demeanor. He twirled his pencil in his hand nervously. "Or more of a favor, actually. Well, two favors."

Slowly Sasuke raised a curious eyebrow. "This will likely end in me saying no, but go on."

"Well," Naruto began after making a face, "uh…okay, in a nutshell, I need to get a job. Badly. And obviously I need the vice's permission for that, so do you think that you could…you know, chat him up?"

"What?" Sasuke repeated incredulously, and Naruto's eyes widened before he began flailing his arms about.

"No! Oh god no, not like that." Sasuke's shoulders visibly relaxed as Naruto elaborated. "I meant tell him about me. Or, tell him good things about me and my work ethic."

"There are no good things about your work ethic."

"That's where stretching the truth comes in, see?"

"Truth doesn't stretch that far, Uzumaki."

"What about bending it?"

"Still doesn't work."

"…bending _and_ stretching?"

"No."

"…Then—"

"No," Sasuke interrupted, glaring at the pleading Naruto, "I'm not going to flat-out lie for you either. Why do you want a job, anyways?"

"That's none of your business," Naruto grumbled after a lengthy pause, crossing his arms over his chest and sinking down into his seat. Sasuke stared thoughtfully for a moment before sighing in exasperation. Why the _hell_ did Sasuke have to play guidance counselor now, too? He should've read the job description more thoroughly before he decided to go and be a teacher.

"Since you're asking me to help you, I'd say it's a bit of my business now. And don't even say it's for something stupid like a game console."

"It's not for a game console, and just forget it, okay?" Naruto sighed heavily and began closing all of his notebooks. Sasuke watched in confusion as Naruto continued packing up his stuff, obviously planning to leave in a rather sudden sour mood.

"What's suddenly the problem?"

"There is no problem," Naruto snapped, avoiding eye contact. Sasuke scoffed.

"If this is because I can't help you—"

"You _can_ help me, you just _won't_." Naruto stared angrily, frustration painted on his face. "There's a difference."

"_That_ is what you're mad about?" Sasuke sat back in his seat, completely unapologetic. And why the hell should he be, anyways? "Unsurprisingly, you're being a moron. I'm not obligated to lie for you, Uzumaki, and as of now I am not compelled to do so in the least."

"Look, I know that. It's just…" Naruto sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, clutching the ends tightly and forcing out the words he evidently did not want to say. "I'm desperate, okay? I don't know what to _do_ here. I'm just—I don't know."

Sasuke watched Naruto intently, his fingers itching for his top drawer in a move he didn't want to make. He didn't _need_ to make it. It wasn't any of his business and it sure as hell wasn't his job—he'd memorized that description word for word, lest someone uses it against him again—but as of now the two things that should've stopped him were doing nothing. For fuck's sake.

"Finish packing up your things," Sasuke commanded, standing and grabbing his own things. He placed them neatly inside of his bag, controlling the overwhelming irritation to the fact that he was even _doing_ this—why the hell was he doing this again?

Naruto was obviously confused as he slowly stood, picking his school bag from the floor. "Uh…what?"

"Just do it."

"Why the fuck should I—"

"Just _do_ it."

They continued packing up in silence, Naruto shooting Sasuke curious and rather irritated glances every so often. Sasuke purposely avoided his desk drawer, carefully packing each notebook, folder, binder, pencil, pen, highlighter, and led refill he could find until his desk was nearly empty. He sighed lightly and, cursing under his breath, slid the drawer open.

"What the hell is taking you so long?"

Sasuke's head snapped up as he glared, his car keys glinting mischievously. He snatched them up violently and grabbed his bag before stalking tetchily through the doorway, flipping the light off as Naruto followed.

Naruto slid the door closed and jogged to catch up to Sasuke, who was walking quickly in his aggravation. "So where exactly are we going? Another 'comforting' date?"

"That was _not_ a date," Sasuke replied immediately, wanting to once again punch the stupid smug look off of Naruto's face. "It was a home visit, and one recommended by the school."

"The _school_ sent you to make sure I was all right?" Naruto repeated incredulously, shoving his hands in his pockets. He forced a smile and nonchalance in his tone. "That's only half-surprising. I knew they loved me all along."

"Naruto."

Sasuke stopped suddenly, causing Naruto to nearly run into him. His face scrounged up in preparation to begin yelling, stopping just as he opened his mouth. "Hey, you called me Naruto…"

"Stop talking."

With that Sasuke continued walking silently, leaving a confused but compliant Naruto to follow. Naruto opened his mouth as if to speak again at several intervals, staring at Sasuke with eyebrows furrowed. Sasuke did nothing, and finally when they got in the car Naruto relaxed, leaning his head against the cool window and closing his eyes with a soft sigh.

They drove and Sasuke felt a bit like he did when he visited Naruto's house; the silence was something akin to pleasant—but not actually so, since the words 'Naruto' and 'pleasant' did _not_ belong in the same sentence. Even through the mental berating he was giving himself—really, this was the second time he'd let his student in his car, and if he was found he'd probably be called unethical and unprofessional—he felt relatively…calm. It was just his hands on the steering wheel, the soft sound of the road passing beneath his car, and the scent of rain floating in his slightly opened windows.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto said softly, his eyes still closed. Sasuke made no move to respond, feeling it unnecessary. "I think I know where we're going."

"Maybe you're not so much of a moron, then," Sasuke replied, and Naruto laughed lightly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The hospital room was as small and suffocating as Naruto remembered it, the stark walls and morose greys as depressing as ever. Naruto took small steps into the room, for some reason feeling nervous, clutching his schoolbag to his chest. He watched the rise and fall of Iruka's chest intently, counting each one as if to reassure himself that his guardian was, in fact, still alive.

"Iruka?"

Naruto watched as tired eyes slowly opened, a strained smile forcing its way onto the man's face. Joy rose quickly in Naruto's chest as he grinned, taking quicker steps towards the man. He pulled over the closest chair, plastic scraping against the floor, and sat down in it quickly, throwing his bag beside him. He clenched his hands tightly on his knees as he barely kept himself from hugging the man back into unconsciousness.

"Iruka-sensei!"

"Hey, Naruto." The cracked and tired tone of voice caused Naruto's smile to falter momentarily. He hated this so much, and everything in him wanted to make Iruka better somehow. "Did you go to school today?"

"First thing you ask, really!" Naruto laughed loudly, the relief he was feeling making him elated. "I can't believe you'd think so little of the value I place on my education!"

"Wow, you must be going to school. I've never heard you use a word as big as 'education'." Iruka smiled teasingly and Naruto stuck his tongue out childishly.

"I'll have you know I'm often told I'm very, very smart. Light years beyond all of my classmates."

"Oh, is _that_ what your teacher says?"

Naruto winced slightly. "Of course! Well…sort of."

"'Sort of'? Naruto…" Iruka said warningly, and Naruto was amazed that Iruka managed to be so threatening from a hospital bed.

He weighed whether or not to tell Iruka the truth—that he was struggling in his almost all of his classes because of his nonchalance in the beginning of the year, and the week he missed hadn't helped in the least—but quickly decided against it. He didn't want Iruka worrying any more than he inevitably was now; all Iruka needed to focus on was getting better and nothing else.

"Well, he says I have promise. Also says that if I apply myself, I could get grades that would shoot me towards schools preparing me for life as the prime minister of Japan."

"Wow!" Iruka's face was genuinely excited even through the fatigue, and Naruto forced himself to smile as well. "I think that's the nicest thing any of your teachers have said about you. In fact, I think it's one of the _only_ nice things your teachers have said about you. He must be a great teacher."

Naruto bit the tip of his tongue to keep from laughing. "Oh, he's…he's something else."

"I assume things are okay with your friends?"

"Yeah, definitely. Sakura was actually here with me when you were first admitted." Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head with a slight chuckle. "I couldn't manage being here alone, so I called her."

"Understandable." Iruka let out a soft sigh, bringing his hand up to his face. Naruto immediately jumped up, hands outstretched and prepared to do whatever necessary.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just…slight headache." Iruka smiled a bit and Naruto hesitantly sat back down on the edge of his seat. "Falling down a flight of stairs will do that to you."

"You're something else, you know that?" Naruto laughed in astonishment, shaking his head. Iruka shrugged with a smile.

"Your constant optimism and ability to make light of any situation has affected me."

Naruto smiled sadly before looking at the ground, suddenly feeling ashamed. He slowly slid back in his chair and began moving his foot back and forth between the tiles nervously, wanting to speak but finding himself unable. His closed his eyes tightly and took in a deep breath, the words leaving him in a jumbled, embarrassed rush.

"Isn'tthereanywayIcanhelpmakeyoumagicallybetter?"

Iruka laughed from his bed and Naruto ducked his head further down, his face heating up instantly. He was such a kid and especially when it mattered; 'magically' make him better? What the fuck was that shit?

"Naruto, I appreciate your wanting to—"

"I don't like feeling this helpless!" Naruto jumped to his feet, tensely pacing around the room and biting his fingernails. "It's not good. This entire situation isn't good. And even though I know it shouldn't, it eats at me. This is supposed to be where I step up and _do_ something for you, Iruka, and I'm not doing anything! It's not right!"

"Naruto."

Slowly Iruka sat up, staring seriously at Naruto. Naruto sighed heavily and shuffled back to his seat, collapsing heavily into the cheap chair. He folded his hands and stared at the ground before mumbling, "I just want to be able to do something for you, Iruka. I want to help make things better."

They remained silent, Naruto staring at the ground and Iruka watching him contemplatively. The sound of the television from the room next door floated through the thin walls. Naruto could hear the heels of someone clicking down the hallway, the soft murmurs of someone speaking comfortingly, and faint, distant sobs. Everything about hospitals was terrible; it seemed like no one here could ever be happy until they were leaving. Hospitals had always been the physical form of death to Naruto, and perhaps that was why this was tearing him up so much—he couldn't stop believing that because Iruka was here, Iruka was dying, even though he wasn't.

"Listen, Naruto," Iruka began softly, and Naruto shook his head.

"I know, I know. It's not my fault."

Iruka slid back down in his bed, closing his eyes and letting out a heavy breath. "I'm sorry. I'm just really exhausted."

"I'm probably not helping, huh?"

"That's not the case," Iruka chided, and Naruto laughed bitterly and attempted to regain his humor.

"Liar. I happen to be _quite_ exhausting."

"Naruto, there are some things about your sex life I really don't want to know."

"Oh wow, Iruka, that was a good one!" Naruto rubbed his chin in mock contemplation, looking off into the distance. "I think I should try that one on Sasu—er…"

"Who?" Iruka asked, and Naruto forced out a laugh.

"Uh, Sasu…kura! Sakura, that's whose name I was saying." Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Naruto quickly continued speaking before the conversation could progress any further. "You're obviously tired, Iruka-sensei, so I'll go now. I'll visit you again soon, promise."

Patting the armrests Naruto grabbed his bag quickly, standing and beginning to make his way out of the room before Iruka called his name out again.

"Yeah?"

"You want to do something for me?" Iruka's voice was slow and tired, causing Naruto to smile affectionately as the man fought to stay awake.

"I'll do anything."

"I want you to get an A for this grading period."

"What?!" Naruto whirled around quickly and stared at his chuckling guardian as if he'd just gone and grown another head. "You're joking. You must be. Is it the painkillers? Are you on painkillers?"

"Naruto, I know you can do this," Iruka argued, opening his eyes halfway and struggling to keep them there. "You're intelligent. Even your teacher said you showed promise."

Fuck. "Y-yeah, but he said _promise_, not actual intelligence! He's a tough grader, anyways, and—and it'll be hard enough for me to even pass, let alone get an A!"

"He seems nice enough, from what you say. Ask him for extra help; I know you can sacrifice the time."

Naruto wanted to plant his face in his hands and let the earth swallow him whole at that moment. Seeing firsthand how your words can come back to bite you in the ass is never fun. "He's…busy, Iruka-sensei. It's not me, it's him. _He_ won't have time."

"Nonsense." Iruka waved a limp hand in the air as if to dispel the thought. "He's a teacher; it's his job to help you."

"I have been _saying_ that for _months_, but does that bastard listen? _No_," Naruto grumbled under his breath, all the while racking his mind for some excuse that would change Iruka's mind. He was nowhere near passing at the moment, and getting an A average?

Absolute sparkling, shiny bullshit.

"I-Iruka-sensei, it's just that—"

"All right, Naruto, I understand." Iruka let his eyes fall closed, exhaling softly and preparing to fall asleep. "Just make sure you pass."

Naruto watched him as guilt rose in his chest, creating a foul taste in his mouth. He came here moaning and griping about how he wanted to do something, and then when given something he just complains? Uzumaki Naruto, unable to rise to the challenge and do what his sick guardian asked of him. Was that really who he was now?

"All right, fine." Naruto sighed heavily and planted his face in his hands, knowing that he was going to desperately regret this in a day's time. "I'll do it. I'll get an A this grading period."

Iruka chuckled tiredly from his bed, slowly turning over to make himself comfortable. "Thanks, Naruto. I know you can do this."

"I hope I can," He replied uncertainly, and Iruka laughed again.

"Where in the world has the loud-mouthed, over-confident Naruto gone? Where's the speech you used to give me about how you were going to be prime minister and make Japan the world's greatest country? What happened, you lose a backbone?"

_No, I'm just scared I'm losing you._ "You're right, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto brought up a determined fist and launched into a trademark speech of being something great, if only to put Iruka at ease. He didn't want the older man to worry or to make himself even sicker. All he wanted was Iruka to sit without a care in the world, heal without a care in the world, and come back home without a care in the world.

And so help him god, Naruto was going to do anything to make that happen.

-----------------------------

A special prize to the person who recognizes out the song lyric I snuck in there.

Next chapter will be…different. Or at least I'm envisioning it to be. Some things will be clarified, shit will happen, it's all life. I have started to write bits and pieces of chapter nine, which is a huge improvement for me. I hope you guys can believe in me and such, and thanks to everyone who's stuck around!


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